Day of Doom
by FAH3
Summary: FINISHED! It came from no where, its goal is destruction, and the world's greatest heroine may not be able to stop it. Kim Possible/Superman fusion: Sequel to Invincible.
1. Life Goes On

**Disclaimer:** Kim Possible is owned by the Disney Company, and Superman is property of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment. I don't own or work for either, and I wrote this for fun.

* * *

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

**FiveYears Later**

How long had it been there? How did it get there? Where was it from? These were questions that almost any person would normally ask if they found themselves in a strange and unfamiliar place. But not him; not it. After it had woken from a long sleep, it found itself bound and unable to move. During that time, its anger rose and let the rage fuel his strength. More and more he would fight against the restraints and hear them strain and groan. That was the norm for it for what could have been years or centuries, until one restraint finally gave way and he could use its left arm again. Wasting no time, it destroyed the restraints that had bound its legs and allowed him to stand and walk. The last restraint, however, kept his arm tied behind his back. This added to his rage as he tried to reach it, but found it impossible.

He took only a moment to try and see where he was. His body was in strange garments, and his head was covered with some kind of mask. Two burgundy lenses that covered eyes were the only thing that allowed him to see. After discovering he had been imprisoned, he began to pound the wall relentlessly. That had been several years ago. He had no concept of time, just that he wanted out. After years of relentless blows against the wall, it finally began to weaken. But it still wouldn't give way. More anger and rage began to build in him.

As he increased the speed of his blows and his anger grew, his hand began to change. From under the skin, four bone spikes began to tear through his skin. The pain only made him angrier as he hit the wall harder and harder. With each blow, the spikes would slowly extend more and more. They pierced through his skin, and tore through the glove that incased his hand. The claws were now chipping away the wall and weakening it further. Soon, he would be free. Yes, he would be free.

* * *

Kim let out a sigh of relief as she and the rest of the Daily Planet's writing staff exited the conference room. She didn't know what was worse at that moment. Having to listen to her editor, Perry White, drone on during a slow news week, or interviewing the candidates for the League. Even thinking about those interviews was starting to make her stomach turn a little. She was glad they had finally expanded the league, but she was getting tired of having to decide who got the thumbs up, and who didn't. She better stop thinking about the interviews for a moment since they were causing her stomach to bother her a little more.

She slowly took a deep breath as she walked through the city room, and happened to glance up at what she had started to call the wall of fame. The enlarged front page headliners that marked some of the most important events in the paper's career, or history itself, that had been framed. As she walked, she couldn't help but pause at the two most recent additions. The first was Lois' interview about her as Superwoman while the other was of her and the original members of the League. It was right after they had defeated General Zod, and you could still see how much of a toll it had taken on each of them. Lois Lane, her writing partner, was one of her best and most trusted friends. She was head strong, sassy, and very opinionated, but she was a very loyal friend that stood up for what she believed in. She just wished she could have told Lois her secret instead of her finding out the way she did.

She still laughed to herself when she thought about it. Her third year at the Daily Planet, and they had been assigned to write a story about a serial arsonist. They were doing some digging in one of his latest hot spots, and it had been Kim's idea to go in. She swore more of that woman was rubbing off of her everyday. While they were looking around, part of the roof gave way and would have fallen on top of her. Out of instinct, Kim shielded her from the debris. When it shattered over her like it was nothing, it let the cat out of the bag. That, and when Lois came to her apartment to tell her about her theory. To test it out, she pulled a gun out and fired it at Kim. When she said she would have died is she didn't have super powers, Lois revealed the gun had been loaded with blanks.

But Lois had kept her identity a secret, and she thanked God for that. She knew how Lois always loved to get the big stories and make others red with envy, and she landed on one of the mothers of all stories. But to her surprise, she kept it tight lipped. As Kim looked at the walled front page about the Justice League, her gaze lingered on how close her and Ron had been in that picture. Ever since they started dating again they seemed to be growing closer. A part of him was still closed off, but she was getting there. She knew it would take some time. Of course, another clue was obvious as she began to gaze downward at her hand.

"Admiring your handy work?" Lois asked as she walked up to her.

"What?" Kim asked as she came out from her train of thought.

"I was asking if you were admiring your handy work?" Lois asked her as she indicated to the walled headlines of Superwoman and the Justice League. A small chuckle came from Lois' lips as she saw Kim starting to look like a deer caught in a set of headlights. "I meant your writing, genius." Lois whispered and laughed as Kim began to blush.

"I swear it's too easy to make you embarrassed, Middleton." Lois said as they walked to their usual desks.

"You know, I'm starting to regret saving you." Kim said to her.

"Oh yeah? When?" Lois asked, remembering how many times her partner had to bail her out as her alter ego.

"Let's see. Does every time count?" Kim asked, and earning a mock glare from Lois.

"How about I apologize with a girl's night out? Some coffee, some chocolate and double fudge ice cream, and then we hit every strip bar in Metropolis?" Lois asked.

"Are you even allowed in any of them anymore?"

"Hey! I'm a good girl." Lois said.

"With horns. Last time you took me a ladies club, you got drunk and said you kept 'loosing' your watch down Zorro's pants." Kim said.

"I thought I did." Lois said, and saw the look on her partner's that showed she didn't buy it. "I also had to make sure that wasn't a sock in his pants. I didn't want him or that place to get sued for false advertisement." Lois said, causing Kim to laugh so hard that she almost couldn't breath.

"I'll have to take a rain check, Lois. Me and the others have more auditions to judge." Kim said to her.

"Maybe you should put the auditions on the TV and make money out of being in that club of yours." Lois said.

"Lois, we don't do it for money. We do it because it's the right thing to do. Except that one guy." Kim said, rolling her eyes about one certain member in the league.

"What one guy?"

"Swear you're not going to use this as ammo for your next story?" Kim asked her.

"Come on, Middleton." Lois said.

"Lois, I mean it." Kim said to her.

"Okay, I promise." Lois said, finally relenting.

"His name's Booster Gold. Apparently, he's from the future." Kim said.

"You're serious?"

"That's what he claims. His powers come from a suit he wears. But he wanted to be a hero for the fame and glory. He's also trying be a spokesperson for who knows how many companies." Kim said as groaned as she clutched her stomach.

"You okay?"

"Upset stomach. All these interviews and posers are giving me grief." Kim said.

"Then you should really reconsider that girl's night out of these things are bothering you that bad." Lois said.

"I so wish I could. But sense everyone sees me as the leader of the group, I have to be there." Kim said.

"Man. It sucks to be you." Lois said.

"Tell me about it." Kim said.

"LOIS!"

Startled, both Kim and Lois looked up to see Jimmy running toward them as fast as he could and slid to a stop.

"Something up?" Lois asked the young photographer.

"The verdict just came in for the Toyman. They found him not guilty!"

"WHAT?!" both Lois and Kim screamed at once.

Several months ago, the Toyman, a.k.a. Winslow P. Schott, was actually a brilliant inventor that had created some of the world's most amazing toys. His mind had snapped when his employers stole the patents for his toys and robbed him of everything he had worked for. His mind was now almost childlike, but he had rigged some of his toys into bombs and delivered them to his employers as gifts. The explosions killed his employers, but not at their offices. They were at their homes, and the blasts killed them and some of their family members. The daughter of one lost both legs and had to have what was left of an arm amputated. She was seven years old. He had actually confessed to it, saying they wouldn't play fair. But to hear he was declared innocent was just beyond belief.

"Why the hell would they declare him innocent?" Kim asked.

"There wasn't enough evidence to prove that he did it. And his lawyer was able to prove that the crime lab had screwed up when they were handling the evidence." Jimmy said.

"How did they screw up?" Kim asked.

"It turns out one of their lab techs was trying to be a detective, and he accidentally contaminated the evidence. And," Jimmy said, but hesitated.

"Spill it, Olsen." Lois asked him.

"His lawyer kept saying that because Superwoman apprehended him, his arrest wasn't legal." Jimmy finished.

"Son of a bitch." Lois cursed. "When's he walking?"

"About an hour." Jimmy answered.

"Get your camera, kid." Lois said as she and Jimmy made for the elevators.

"LANE!" Perry shouted.

"I'm already on it, Perry." Lois said before the elevator doors closed.

"Oh." Perry said as a frown appeared on his face.

"Find any place to bury her yet, Perry?" Kim asked him.

"No such luck." Perry grumbled as he went back into his office and closed.

Kim chuckled a little as she turned back to her work. It had been an interesting life since she left home. As she began to type on her computer, her phone began to ring. It wasn't uncommon, but she was surprised to see who it was on the caller ID.

"Mom?" Kim asked as she answered.

"_Hi, Kimmie. Why so surprised?"_

"You don't usually call me at work unless it's something serious. Oh God, what have the tweebs done now?"

"_Nothing like that. You said Ron and yourself were planning a visit next week, and I'm just making sure."_

"Oh, right. Everything looks good so far. Out of curiosity, will Jim and Tim be there?"

"_They should. None of them are tutoring that weekend, and the Space Center just gave them that weekend off."_

"Good." Kim said with a heavy sigh of relief.

"_Kim what, what are you planning?" _her mother asked.

"What do you mean?

"_Don't give me that, Kimmie. I know when you're up to something. Now are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to tell everyone at your job why I call you bubble butt?"_

"You wouldn't dare!"

"_I'm your mother, Kim. Try me."_

Kim let out a small frustrated groan at her mother's threat. Anne was her mother, and she knew she wouldn't hesitate with that threat of hers. She swore her mother had to have been one of Ron's teacher's when he decided to be Batman.

"I want it to be a surprise, mom. But let's just say Ron and I have an announcement or two to make. And I'm not giving you anymore clues." Kim said as she looked down at her hand.

* * *

Every single blow the creature struck, a loud yell of pure uninhibited rage echoed through out his prison. With each blow, his fury seemed to mount. He wanted freedom. He wanted revenge. Why did he want revenge? He didn't know nor did he care. He just wanted it. He desired it, he craved it like a drug. Revenge was its drug, it was its food, and it was its passion. And it would have it. The wall was beginning to warp more and more with every forceful blow. But it knew that it would be soon. Harder and harder it pounded, feeling the wall beginning to weaken more. Revenge would be his, and it would be too soon for everything that would be in its wake.

* * *

She would give anything to be back in Perry's meeting instead of here. Normally, she loved being in the Watchtower. But having to interview all of these posers pretending to be superheroes was more than she could bare. A small groan left her throat as the latest so called hero was escorted out. Here they all were, the original members of the League. The first at their conference table was Global Justice Agent Will Du. Also known as the Green Lantern. The next was crime scene investigator Josh Mankey. He was also widely known as the Flash. After him was Princess Diana from the island of the immortal Amazon warriors, Themyscira. Adopting her mother's title when she had ventured to man's world, she was Wonder Woman. J'onn J'onzz was the last living Martian and a detective for the Gotham Police Department, he was The Martian Manhunter. Next to him was Shayera Hol, a law officer from the planet Thanagar. She was known as Hawk Girl. There was Kim herself, and the one member that was missing yet again.

"Where's Batman?" Kim asked.

"We got a call from Wade earlier. He said he and Robin were tracking someone named Raz Al Goo or something." Josh said.

"Damn it, not again." Kim said to herself as she held her head in her hands.

"Problem?" Shayera asked.

"I just don't like the idea of him taking a thirteen year-old to fight crime." Kim said.

"From what I've heard, he's proven to be a formidable fighter. I think Ron is training him well." J'onn said.

"That's not the point. A kid shouldn't be facing the scum of Gotham. He should be having fun doing – kid stuff." Kim said to them.

"But didn't you start saving the world at that age?" Josh asked and cringed when he saw the glare he received from her. "Too far?"

"You think?" Kim growled.

"What's wrong with Kim?" Diana whispered to Shayera.

"I'm not sure, but I may have an idea." Shayera said.

"Can we just get on to the next candidate?" Kim asked.

"Sure. Bring in the next one." Lantern said into the comm. system and waited as the doors opened.

* * *

Kim was rubbing the soar muscles in her lower back as she, Diana, and Josh were walking down one of the halls of the Watchtower. The last of the interviews had finally ended, and she couldn't' be more relieved. She had never officially accepted the title of leader of the league, and now she knew why. This was the last job in the world she wanted. Ever. But still, they turned to her and she wasn't the one to turn her back on anyone who needed help.

"So how did your weekends go?" Josh asked them.

"I finally took a break from the United Nations and visited my mother." Diana said.

"How's she doing?" Kim asked them.

"They are all doing fine. But now my little sister wished to visit Man's World." Diana said.

"I'm guessing that didn't go over well." Josh said.

"No, it didn't. How are you and Tara?" Diana asked him.

"It still feels like we're on our honeymoon. We'll almost." Josh said.

"Don't tell me you two are already running into problems." Kim said.

"No, nothing like that. She got sea sick on our cruise, and spent half of it in bed. But at least she wasn't as nervous as she was with planning the wedding."

"But I thought she enjoyed the process." Diana said.

"Except when her family started arguing over the stupidest little things. She was worried about her dress, the arrangements. Also where we were going to live, what people would think after the wedding. She was practically throwing up almost every other hour."

"Please don't say throw up." Kim mumbled as she felt her stomach doing flips again.

"It's the truth. She was worrying about everything. She looked greener than autopsy of a cadaver." Josh said.

Suddenly, Kim's knees felt week as she felt her stomach do summersaults. She tried to take a breath and hold it, but she couldn't. I felt like everything had been thrown in reverse. With on hand clutching her stomach, and the other her mouth, she ran as fast as she could to the nearest ladies room.

"Sort of like that." Josh said as they saw how their friend had acted. "Is it me, or was there something off about that?"

"What do you mean? It looked like she felt sick."

"Yeah. But here's the thing, Diana. Ever since she got her abilities, Kim hasn't been sick since she was in elementary school." Josh said, causing Diana to rethink her previous statement.

"Something's wrong." She said and followed Kim's path.

Kim washed her mouth out the last remains of her lunch with the water that was coming form the sink, and spit it down the drain. Her muscles were feeling weak as they started to relax from her sudden regurgitation. Her breathing was a little shaky as she kept her eyes closed and tried to let her body return to normal. She didn't know if her nerves could take much more of this. She couldn't hide this secret for much longer.

"When are you going to tell them?" Shayera asked, causing Kim to gasp as she looked up.

"W-what do you mean?" Kim asked shakily.

"Don't play dumb, Kim. I know the little secret you've been trying to hide." She said to her.

"H-how?"

"It wasn't too hard to piece together. But you can't keep something this big to yourself." Shayera said.

"Shayera, don't. You know what kind of lives we live. If any of our enemies found out,"

"Then the league would be there to help. You know that." Shayera said to her. "What's the real reason?"

"I'm scared. I mean that I've been scared before, but this makes me terrified. This is so new for me." Kim told her.

"But it's something good and to be thrilled about. Besides, you should tell everyone else before it's too late." Shayera said to her.

"Before what is too late?" Diana asked as she and Josh opened the door.

"Kim's got an announcement fir us." Shayera said as Kim began to turn red.

"She does?" Josh asked.

"Well," Kim started as she brushed her hair back, but it was enough time for Josh to spot something, and to stop her hand and gently hold it.

"Would you look at the size of that rock?" Flash said as she saw the diamond ring set into a gold band that rested on her finger.

"That is beautiful. Did Ron give this to you?" Diana asked as she marveled at the ring.

"Sort of?" Kim asked as she became more flushed. From the way she spoke that one phrase, Josh's eyes went wide as he began to piece everything together.

"Slap me around and call me Susan. Ron popped the question!" Josh said.

"Popped the question?" Diana asked, confused by what he had said.

"Ron asked her THE question." Josh said, but saw that Diana still had a blank look of confusion on her face. "Diana, Ron and Kim are engaged! They're going to get married!" Josh said.

"Really? You are?" Diana asked as her eyes went wide.

Kim bit her lower lip as nervousness began to take over before finally started shaking her head yes. Before she knew what was happening, Diana was grasping her in a firm hug as Josh began to holler and whoop in excitement.

"It's about damn time he got the nerve!" Josh said as Diana released Kim from their embrace.

"Congratulations, Kimberly. This is the best news I've heard in months." Diana said with a wide smile. "Is this why you were so sick? You were nervous about telling us?"

"Basically." Kim said to them.

"But why would you be nervous about telling us?" Diana asked her.

"Because outside the cape, Ron's one of the most well known celebrities in the world. And the last thing him and I want is a media circus for a wedding. It's bad enough I'm having to make my cousin Joss keep quiet. So please keep this under your hats for now. Ron and I just want to do this at our own pace." Kim said to them before she noticed Josh was gone. "Please, don't tell me he,"

"_Attention fellow league members, this is the Flash speaking to you. I'm very happy to let every one of you know that former teen hero and award winning reporter, Kim Possible, is engaged to be married to none other than her friend and rich sugar daddy boy friend, Ronald Stoppable. You heard right, One of People's most eligible bachelor's is being is being fitted for a ball and chain. That is all."_ Flash said over the comm. system as Kim felt a major migraine wash over her. Already she could hear all the voices and chatter on the Watchtower build and fill with excitement. And every single part of it was about the news Flash just announced.

"Do you want me to hit him in the head?" Shayera asked her.

"I think I'm going to be sick again." Kim said as she felt her stomach start to turn on her again.

* * *

It's screams of pure rage echoed through out its prison, almost making it deaf as he kept hammering and hammering his fist against the wall harder and harder. His entire hand was now free from the glove; its claws tearing the material away with every blow to the wall. The adrenalin of his anger kept feeding his body, making his muscles slightly enlarge and push the material's boundaries. At the elbow of his free arm, the material began to shift and tear as another bone spike has pierced through his flesh. But its goal was no sooner reached.

The wall was not protruding outward more and more, and the metal was severally weakened from the constant attack. With each blow from the creature's fist, the metal was starting to crack more and more and become brittle. The creature granted no mercy, it needed to time to rest. It's freedom was more important to it than anything else.

With one last hit, the wall broke away, completely collapsing and allowing the various dirt and rock to pour over him and into his cell. But it did not feel any joy over the fact it had finally escaped it's would be tomb, but enraged that it had found a new obstacle in its path. But this was different than the last barrier. It was softer, and found that its strength allowed it to easily tunnel and tear its way through. As it began to tear, claw, and pull its way through the heavy dirt, it noticed that the dirt was looser above it than below. So up it climbed. It broke its way through the hardened rock, and shattering the remains of the creatures that once walked the world above. It wanted out. And sadly, it was getting its wish faster and faster with the speed it was going. Doomsday was coming.

* * *

Kim was sipping a glass of warm milk as she saw the headlines on her laptop. She was wearing her flannel robe that she bought for those overnight stays at the fortress, enjoying the warmth it gave her as she looked at the headlines on various web sites. She would break Booster Gold in half the next time she saw that greedy little glory hound. The Gotham Gazette, USA Today, The Houston Chronicle, and even The Daily Planet. All of them were announcing Ronald Stoppable's engagement to Kimberly Anne Possible. Ever since she came home, she had been dodging calls from various newspapers and paparazzi. She even saw a helicopter for E! entertainment! Why did Ron have to go and become a billionaire while she had been at the Fortress? What surprised her more was that one of Ron's rich friends, Donald Trump, called and asked what she had in mind for a wedding gift.

All of this was just giving her a headache. This was the last thing she and Ron had wanted. She had to stop Shayera from killing Josh. And he had called several times apologizing for his announcement. And she had to convince J'onn not to rip Booster's mind apart. With as bad as she had been feeling recently, this was the last thing she needed or desired. But one thing that stuck out in her mind was her wondering what Ron was going to do.

"They wanted to kick him out of the League for his actions. I was tempted to agree with them." Ron growled as he stepped out of the shadows. She was so used to that, it didn't even spook or surprise her anymore. She finished the last of her mil before turning to him.

"What did you do to him?" Kim asked her fiancé, knowing what he was capable of.

"Let's just say that I hung him out to dry for that little stunt to the press." He said to her, closing her blinds the rest of the way.

"Thank you, but the cat's out of the bag. Ron, I'm so sorry." She said as she stood, and felt him hold her in his arms and pull her close.

"It's all right, Kim. If I had known that keeping it a secret was making you sick, I would have told the press myself." He said, his voice slipping back into its normal tone to comfort her.

"I'm feeling better now. Part of me is finally relieved that it's out now."

"And the other part of you?"

"Mad as hell that it's out." She said as she looked up at him.

"You're upset about something else, though." He said. Sometimes, she just hated that he could read her so easily.

"It's about your new partner." She said to him.

"I didn't force him." He said.

"Ron, his suit is practically a smaller version of yours. His weapons, his mask, even that motorcycle you gave him." She told him.

"He wanted that life." Ron said.

"Then you should have told him no!" Kim said as she threw her glasses on her bedside table in frustration.

"You weren't much older than him when we started saving the world." Ron said.

"But that was different, Ron! I didn't know what I was getting myself into. And a kid that young just – just shouldn't have to deal with that much stress in his life." Kim said.

"And?" he asked her, knowing there was more than that.

"And – and – I'm scared to death that something's going to happen to him. You've already had too many close calls already. And I don't' want something to happen to Dick." Kim said to him.

"He knows that. That's why he didn't want me to tell you." He said as he walked closer to Kim.

"Why?"

"Because you're the closest thing he's had to a mother since he lost his parents. And your opinion really does matter to him. But this is something he wants to do. It's something he actually believes in."

"I know, Ron. I just get worried is all." She said as she looked at him. "Please tell me you've got a back up plan for the wedding." She said to him, wanting to change the subject.

"Elope?" he asked as Kim removed his cowl.

"My mother would kill me if we did that. She's wanted me to have a wedding more than I have. Maybe we could have it in a secret place?" she asked him.

"That's going to be tough. The press has eyes and ears in just about every place you could think of to throw a wedding." Ron said to her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Good point." She said as she lightly kissed him. "What if we had it at the Fortress?"

"Are you serious?" he asked her, wondering if she was actually joking with him.

"Ron, I doubt the press would want to travel to the Artic Circle to get pictures. And we could still have only our closest family there, and we could get the original members of the league to help us get them there and back since they're also our closest friends." She said to him.

"Let me think about that. I don't know if a wedding at an ice fortress is a good idea." Ron said.

"It's not ice, it's crystals. And we had a nice time at that ice hotel that one weekend, didn't we?" she said with a sly grin as she began to deeply kiss him.

"That was different." He said as their kisses began to become more passionate. "I take it you want me to stay the night?" he asked her.

"Since I called work and told them I'm not coming in tomorrow? That was the general idea." She said as she began to pull him closer and slowly start to wrap one of her legs around him.

"I guess you are feeling better." He said.

"You're fixing to find out how good I'm feeling." She said as she used part of her strength to fling him onto the bed and shed her robe. "Out of curiosity, did you ever find out who Batgirl was?" she asked him as she kissed him.

"I'll tell you in the morning." He said as Kim started to undo his armor.

* * *

There it was, larger than life and displayed on several large plasma monitors in front of her. Kim Possible and the buffoon were finally getting married. But what did this mean for her? Would Superwoman relocate to Metropolis, or would Stoppable move his HQ to Metropolis? Kimmie had kept her promise, and had been keeping an eye on her all this time. She almost couldn't get anything done with that Girl Scout flying around her constantly. Having her leave Metropolis would be a boost to many of her plans. But if Kim was staying, then it would be very disturbing to have one of her rival competitor's right next door.

"Is everything all right, Sherri?" Mercy asked her boss.

"Just thinking is all." Sherri said as the plasma monitors shut down and started descended back into the floor. "Any clues to where Dr. Irons is?" she asked.

Five years ago, Sherri had begun a little secret business venture with his lab partner, Dr. Angora Lapin to manufacture a gun Dr. Irons had designed. But not too long after Zod had tried to conquer the world, Dr. Lapin dropped out of sight. Sherri was upset, but later became furious when she couldn't find the weapon designs Dr. Lapin had given her. So she made sure Dr. Irons stayed on her payroll. Then, two years ago, one of her sources showed her footage of a battle in one of Iraq's oil fields. A group of Iraq rebels had tried to take over the region and were using the weapon Irons had designed.

After that, Amertek had tried to steal Irons away from her and put more of his weapon designs into production. But that was what confused her. The U.S. soldiers that were sent in were also using the same weapon as the rebels. It didn't take long for Sherri to figure out who had supplied them. But what she didn't expect was Dr. Irons. The fool felt so guilty over what he had designed that he destroyed his lab, his computers, his designs, and his prototypes as well as disappearing from sight.

She had been looking for both of them ever since. She found a lead on Lapin, but Irons was harder to find. Not too long ago, she finally found one of his hiding places. But when she sent her men in, the place had been torched and so had his computers. She had her techs trying to recover anything from the computers ever since.

"No ma'am; we've found nothing on his whereabouts. It's like he's fallen off the face of the Earth. And there were no signs any of his weapon designs in the apartment." Mercy said.

"And the plans for that suit Stoppable and I were working on? Was anything recovered from the computers?" Sherri asked.

"Nothing was salvageable."

"DAMN IT!" Sherri screamed. Irons disappearing put a major set back for her company since he deleted most of the projects her company had been working on. She already had to cancel three government contracts because of that stunt. If she ever found that man, she would make sure he got the ass kicking he deserved. But there was still the matter of his former lab partner.

"What about his partner, Dr. Lapin?" Sherri asked.

"After doing some digging and bone breaking, I discovered that Dr. Lapin was indeed the one that leaked the plans to the Iraq gorilla forces."

"How were they able to make them?"

"When Sadam fell out of power, several things of his went up for grabs. Apparently, they were able to get one of his old munitions plants up and running again. That was, until the military blew the hell out of it. It turns out she also sold the design to Amertek, which supplied the soldiers that were sent in to stop the rebels.."

"And now?"

"The government decided that the weapons were too inhumane. When someone is shot with one of these weapons, your survival rate is almost zero." Mercy said.

"Which means they wanted prisoners to interrogate. What's Lapin up to now?" Sherri asked.

"She used the money the Iraq rebels paid her, and the money from Amertek, to take over what's left of Intergang since Mr. Manheim disappeared. She's now calling herself the White Rabbit."

"You're joking." Sherri said.

"I wish I were. She's been supplying her BG-60's to various gangs in Philidelphia, New York, DC, and other places." Mercy said

"She must have a factory out there somewhere. I'm not going to let that bitch screw me out of a deal." Sherri said to herself. "Thank you, Mercy. That will be all." Sherri said.

"Is there anything else you need?" Mercy asked her employer.

"Not right now, but I'll let you know." Sherri told her.

Things between her and Mercy had been a little rocky when Mercy found out that she was screwing Kim's clone behind her back. She still worked for her and was a very trustworthy assistant, but the physical aspect of their relationship had stopped. Sherri did hat the fact that she had hurt her, but she couldn't think about that at the moment. She had business to attend to.

Once Mercy had left, Shego used a small remote that was in her belt to activate a HUD on one of her windows and saw the image of an advanced high tech gym appear. Inside of it was a young woman with short red hair as she worked with on the machines wearing only a pair of thong underwear. Sherri just rolled her eyes as she cleared her throat to get the woman's attention.

"Don't you ever wear clothes?" Sherri asked her.

"_Only when I feel like it. Besides, I know you get off on watching me."_ The redhead said as she stopped her workout and looked at Sherri_._

"Not right now. I'm calling you to talk business." Sherri said.

"_Awww. Are you sure you don't want one quickie?"_ she asked.

"Later."

"_You know what they say, Sherri. All work and no play make Sherri frigid."_ The redhead said.

"What do you know about a crime boss named the White Rabbit?" Sherri asked.

"_Arms dealer to several gangs, she's also rising in the ranks of what you would call crime lords, and loves to get even when you piss her off. Why?" _

"I need you to drag her boney ass into my office as soon as you can. I have some old business to settle with her." Sherri said.

"_You know the agreement, Sherri."_

"I sent you some of the refined meteor rocks yesterday. They should already be there." Sherri said.

"_I meant the other part."_ The redhead said, making Sherri slightly groan as she began to smirk.

"I guess I could use a break. Tomorrow night, be here at nine o'clock."

"_You want me to wear anything in particular?"_

"Yeah. Wear that white swimsuit I like." Sherri said and cut the feed. "Congratulations, Kimmie. World hero once again, and you're about to marry the man of your dreams. Everyone worships you like your some kind of God. Enjoy it while it lasts, Kimmie. Because there comes a time when even Gods must die."

* * *

It was so perfect, majestic, and aspiring all at once. Places like this area of the world were rare to find. There were no signs of technology or man, only the way of nature. Places like these could only be found in state parks or in the paintings of Bob Ross. It was absolutely beautiful. Then, it began to be disturbed. It was small at first, but only at first. It was a rumble. As the rumble began to grow in volume, the ground itself began to shake. Deer that had been grazing ran away as birds took to the sky in fear. The ground was shaking more violently as the rumble was now echoing across the quiet plateau of nature.

With the force unknown to these animals of nature, a large chunk of Earth was sent into the air and quickly broke apart as a clawed fist broke through and quickly dug its fingers into the solid ground. With a loud grunt, the arm that was attached pulled the rest of its large body free from the tons of dirt and rock it had been buried in for so long. As it finally pulled itself free from the confines of the earth, it slowly stood back on its feet as it looked to the sky and let a furious feral yell escape its throat. The roar echoed for miles around as it announced its freedom to the world that even caused the trees and rocks to vibrate. Not since the days of the dinosaur has such a primal screen rock nature herself.

When it was done shouting, it looked at its new and strange surroundings. It didn't know this place, nor had it ever seen anything like it before. This was new to the creature. Even the air it breathed was different than what it had been used to in its life. A strange noise caught his attention as he scanned the terrain, causing him to look up and see a flock of birds flying overhead. All of them were squawking all at once as they flew past him, somehow sensing what he was. A low growl escaped its masked head as it tuned away and began to walk. Each footstep seemed to shake the Earth as his feet sank deeply into the ground. As it walked across the plain, he saw something – odd.

It was a large buck that had decided not to leave. It looked up from its meal of green grass, and saw the strange creature that was clad in a sickly green. Both tilted their heads in curiosity, not knowing what the other was. Slowly, the deer walked towards the man. It cautiously sniffed this new arrival in curiosity. As the deer did so, his free hand slowly reached up and stroked the soft pelt. It found the feel of the pelt odd and yet soft at the same time. It never felt something like that before.

But curiosity turned to sheer panic and fear as the hand tightly gripped the deer by the throat and squeeze tightly. The creature gazed at it through the lens in its head, not showing what it was feeling or what it was thinking. As it tightened its hand, there was a horrific and sickening wet sound as blood covered its face and lenses. The creature, his fingers now covered in crimson blood, used the back of its hand to wipe the liquid away and gazed at his hand. As it saw the blood stained allover his hand and its claws, and saw the lifeless husk below him, he began to emit a cold sound. Completely cold, heartless, and cruel. It began to laugh at what he had done.

**Doomsday was here.**

* * *

* * *


	2. Doomsday is Here

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

According to his watch, he had been driving for over nine hours now. Nine hours, and he could feel it. His ass was numb and his eyes were starting to get heavy on him. Sometimes he wondered why he picked this job. Driving across the country and back, and it took him away from his family was too often. Not to mention it felt like all the excitement was gone. Most of the fast ways weren't fast anymore, and a lot of the scenic spots he liked weren't there anymore. So why was he still doing this?

As he took a sip from the energy drink beside him to give his a boost, he focused his eyes back on the road in front of him. That's when he saw something coming toward him. What was that? He couldn't make it out at first, not even in the headlights. But when it leapt at his windshield, he let out a terrified scream as he closed his eyes and opened them again. It wasn't there anymore, but he knew what it was. Every trucker on the road knew what it was. He had just seen the Black Dog.

There was a reason for his fear to still stay with him. It might be superstition, but it was always a bad omen whenever any trucker saw the black dog on the road. It meant something bad was going to happen, and soon. He was almost calm again until his headlights revealed a large one arm man that was clad in a strange bodysuit and looking directly at him.

He slammed the breaks as hard as he could, but he knew it was obvious he was going to hit the man head on. There was no stopping that now. As the grill of the large truck came closer and closer to the figure, the one arm man launched his fist at the truck and broke through the grill and destroyed the engine. The force of the blow and sudden stop caused part of the cab to crumple like a soda can, causing the trailer to detach and collide with the back of the cab. The sparks from the engine's destruction ignited the diesel fuel within it, causing the truck to explode in a giant fireball that engulfed the load he had been hauling as well as several cars behind it.

Trying to avoid the deadly blast, several cars swerved off the road as another big rig swerved and slammed into one of the support columns of the overpass. The monster that had caused this disaster and chaos walked away, a few bits of his suit burned by the fire. He saw the numerous devices that had begun to pile up and frowned at them. He looked at the column that the larger vehicle had slammed into and began to chuckle. Without warning, he slammed his hard fist against the column of concrete and caused it to start cracking. The sudden impact from the mammoth monster caused the column to completely collapse and brought down one section of the overpass along with several traveling cars, causing a few of them to explode on impact. As he the monster walked away from the horrible disaster, he only did one thing. He laughed.

* * *

"Can you believe the size of this thing?" Booster asked as he looked at the view of Earth from the bridge of the Watchtower. He wasn't talking to anyone in particular, but he couldn't help but admire what he was seeing. He didn't know anyone who wouldn't be amazed by the view from up here. It was absolutely amazing.

"Is everything all right?" J'onn asked as he noticed how close to the window Booster had been leaning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just looking at the view." Booster said.

"I know. Before I came here, I used to look at Mars the same way." J'onn said.

"You were an astronaut?" Booster asked.

"In a manner of speaking. I never reached orbit, but I had to travel certain distances to monitor weather patterns. Each time I reached a certain altitude, I would admire everything I saw. It's still hard for me to believe that everything I once knew isn't there anymore." J'onn said as he exhaled a deep sigh. "But I do need to talk to you about something."

"J'onn, I was wondering about something. How,"

"You know that none of the League members are paid to do this." J'onn said.

"Yeah, but what about the glory and all? You must at least get women that want to,"

"No. The only time I'm ever in my Martian form is to help others and that's it."

"Come on. Even you,"

"Booster, not everyone here does this for fame or money. We do this because we want to help and make a difference. And that's what I need to talk to you about." J'onn said.

"What do you mean?"

"Some of your recent actions have angered other League members." J'onn said.

"Like who?"

"Several, including the original members. Ronald Stoppable and Kimberly Possible are close friends to Batman and Superwoman, and you angered them when you announced their engagement."

"But Flash announced it to us. I,"

"He told us because Ronald Stoppable is one of our benefactors and a rare friend that the League can actually trust. We also informed everyone that they wanted to keep their engagement a secret. You violated not only their trust, but that of the League's. Do you know how many enemies Stoppable has, and may target his fiancé as a way to get to him?" J'onn asked the so-called hero before him.

"H-how mad are they?" Booster asked him.

"They were seriously considering the option of kicking you out of the League." J'onn said as he narrowed his red eyes.

Booster was beginning to stutter a response when the alarms started to go off. Ignoring Booster, J'onn flew to the main control console and immediately began to try and fins out what had set off the alarm. Within a few moments, the multiple monitors came to life, showing different emergencies all over the world.

"_J'onn, it's Du. What's going on?"_

"Multiple emergencies. A volcano is erupting off the coast of Italy, An unconfined forest fire in California, and a massive car wreck on an interstate in Ohio, and we have a large tanker in distress in the Atlantic."

"_Let's do them in order. I'll assemble a few members and handle the evacuation of that island. Assemble teams to handle the others." _Du said.

"I'm already on it. I'm sending the information to select members now." J'onn said as he began choosing the appropriate heroes for the situations at hand. After he finished assigning heroes the heroes to the most needed tasks, the only emergency left was the interstate accident in Ohio. And there weren't that many heroes left.

"Stewart, can you read me?" J'onn asked into the comm links.

"_Stewart here. What do you need, Manhunter?"_

"We have an accident in Ohio that needs attention. Can you get there?"

"_Affirmative. Let me recharge my ring, and I'll be there in a few minutes."_

"I'll send others to give you assistance." J'onn said and looked at the active duty roster. Immediately, he began contacting the ones he wanted telepathically.

"_Fire, Ice, Hawk Girl, Blue Beetle, and Vixen. You're all needed in Ohio at once. I'm already sending you the location."_ J'onn thought.

"_J'onn, I can't right now. I'm in the middle of something big already."_ Beetle thought back.

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Pretty positive."_ Beetle responded.

"Damn." J'onn thought to himself. As he cast his gaze downward, he saw that Booster was still in the same place he had left him. He was still sulking over their previous talk, most likely doubting himself. Normally, he wouldn't choose him for something this important, but he didn't have a choice.

"Booster!" J'onn called out, making him look up. "This is your chance to redeem yourself. Meet Hawk Girl and the others in the Javelin bay now!" J'onn ordered.

"I'm on it!" Booster said and took off running.

* * *

Dr. Angora Lapin, a.k.a. the White Rabbit, felt like she had been thrown around like a rag doll. Her head was spinning as she opened her eyes, and started rubbing her temples to try and make her mind refocus. She looked around and at herself and noticed she was a little worse for wear. Her fish net stockings had a rip in them, and her top looked like it wouldn't hold her bust for that much longer. She also had a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing permanent or life threatening.

She began to take a look at her surroundings, and noticed everything was dark with the exception of the one light shinning over here. Obviously, wherever she was, someone was trying to scare her. They had better try harder than this, because this was just enough to make her laugh.

"About time you woke up." A voice said in the dark that made her pause for a moment. She knew that voice almost too well.

"Miss Gough?" she asked into the dark.

"How nice, you remember my name. You remember anything else about me? Like that little business deal?" Sherri called out.

"Is that what this is about? Listen, I can give you a deal for those now. How about half price?" she asked her former employer.

"HALF PRICE?!" Sherri screamed back. "You were going to sell those designs to me. I was supposed to corner the market on those ordinance, and what do you do? You run off and sell them to someone else!" Sherri shouted back.

"Come on! After that crap with Zod, and Metallo going bonkers? I couldn't risk being found out." Lapin said.

"Do you think I'm that sloppy?" Sherri asked back, but it seemed closer. Like she was circling her.

"Come on, Sherri. We're business women, right? Maybe we can make some sort of deal." Angora said, almost pleaded.

"Actually," Sherri said as she stepped out of the shadows with her hands alight with emerald fire. Hugging her frame as it did so many years ago, was her green and black jumpsuit. And her all to predatory smile.

"Let's just stick with the name Shego." Sherri said to her.

"Holy Crap. You're her?" Lapin asked her.

"You bet your collagen injected ass I am." Sherri said, proud that her former alias was still feared by so many in the criminal underworld. "Now, how about my arrangement?" she asked her "guest"

"O-okay."

"Since I'm the one you proposed that deal to first, I think I should some of that money you've been making."

"How much?"

"60/30."

"Are you crazy?" Lapin asked, but shut up when an emerald fireball narrowly missed her head.

"That's me being generous." Shego growled. "So are you going to accept my first offer, or do I go lower?" Shego asked as her fire began to increase in size.

"I – I think t-that's fair." Lapin quickly said.

"Good." Shego said as she stepped closer and grabbed Lapin by the chin, and raised her up to eye level. "Now let's talk about the new ones you were fixing to manufacture. The ones called BG-80's?"

* * *

Stewart used his ring to lift the last of the rubble out of the way while ice was trying her best to extinguish the flames. Booster, Vixen, Hawk Girl, and Fire were trying to rescue as many people as they could while the rescue teams were trying to contain the infernos. Booster was using the energy force field built into his suit to actually walk into the blazing fires, trying to rescue anyone who was still trapped in their cars. Some of the things Booster saw in that blaze made him cringe. A few of the bodies were so severely burned that the mummies in the museums looked better than them. Others looked like they were skeletons with what looked like chunks of tar on them. It was making him sick to realize that it what was left of their skin and muscle.

"Have you got them out?" Stewart shouted as his concentration was starting to weaken from the weight of the heavy overpass.

"Give me a minute!" Booster shouted as he continued ot look for survivors.

"Make it quick, Gold! I can't hold it for that much longer!" Stewart called out.

Booster was able to find only five survivors out of the whole mess, and extended his force field to surround them as soon as he pulled them free. But he knew he had to hurry. Extending the force field to such a limit was stretching his power cells and he could feel the heat around him starting to grow more intense. As soon as he ran out of the flames with the people he had found alive, Shayera immediately turned her attention to John.

"Everyone's clear. Let it go." Hawk Girl said to him through the comm link.

As the emerald force field around the chunk of iron and concrete vanished, the large piece of debris slammed to the ground with an earth shaking thud. A small cloud of dust kicked up as it landed again. Several ambulances were tending to various wounded while there were too many full body bags lining up to the side. It was more than many of these people could bare.

"Any idea on what caused all this?" Vixen asked as she finally got a good look on what had happened. Such mindless destruction was so appalling to look at. The only time she had ever seen anything like this was if a major Earthquake had hit.

"Not completely. A few of the survivors and witness' claimed they saw a large man in a green suit walking away from all this. Some of them said he might have laughing." A police man said as he tried his best not to look at the body bags.

"One man did all this?" Booster asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah. With one hand behind his back." The cop said.

Laughing at all the death? This sent a shiver down most of their spines. It was hard to imagine that someone could cause all this death and misery and actually think it was funny. Only one or two could only think of one lunatic that might find this funny, and he was locked up in Arkham again. But even that scrawny pale faced nut case couldn't cause all this with one hand. That meant they were dealing with something else entirely.

"Does anyone know which way he went?" Fire asked.

"Yeah. He was heading due east."

"Then we can catch up to him in the air. Can you handle everything else down here?" Stewart asked the police officer.

"Yeah, we can. You guys just about did everything else." The officer said.

"Good. Everyone in the Javelin now! We need to find that guy before he does anything else!" Stewart ordered as they all raced back to the small space ship as fast as they could.

Within moments, everyone was situated in their seets with the instrument son their console's up an running. With Shayera and Stewart at the helm

* * *

Kim sat inside her old room, looking at all of her treasures she had when she was growing up. She couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia wash over her as she kept looking at everything, even her old Kimmunicator. On her dresser and her desk, there were several photos of her and Ron as they were growing up. Back in the good old days. Before Ron – started his night job. A small smile spread across her face when she saw a picture of her and Ron at Bueno Nacho, with Rufus on his shoulder. She always wondered what happened to Rufus, but she never had the heart to ask him. It seemed like Ron was always fighting, like he was trying to figure out who he was. Was he still Ron? Was he the Batman? Or was he something in between the two?

As she looked at the photos, one caught her eyes. It was an old picture of her and her father when she was a little girl at the space center. She remembered when he would take her there whenever she could and she'd pretend she was flying one of the ships her father had created. After all these years, she still missed him so much. Ron had talked to her so many times, and she had tried to reason with herself, but a part of her always said that there might have been something she could have done.

"Kim, are you all right?" Anne asked as she checked on her daughter.

"I'm fine. Just taking a walk down memory lane." Kim said as she let out a deep sigh.

"So where's Ronald at? I thought both of you were going to visit." Anne asked.

"Business, as usual." Kim said to her.

"Which kind?" Anne asked her as they walked back out into the hallway. As they walked, Kim put her hands together to try and form a bat. "So where's Jim and Tim? I haven't heard that much from them since they graduated from college."

"At work, again. Ever since they started working at the space center, they've been spending most of their time there." Anne said.

"At least their inventions are Dr. Hamilton's problem now. I just hope he's not too old to dodge toaster that can go mach 10."

"I feel so sorry for that poor man." Anne said with a bit of a laugh.

When James passed away, the space center replaced him with an old fried of his. A scientist by the name of Dr. Emil Hamilton that had worked with him several times before and had almost went to work for STAR Labs. But out of respect for his friend and a chance to have more freedom to work on his projects, Hamilton went to work for the Middleton space center. He had kept many of her father's old projects alive and well. As Kim and her mother walked back into the living room, Kim noticed that one of the people she wanted to visit was strangely absent.

"Um, where's Kal at?" Kim asked her mother.

"He'll be back in a little bit. I sent him to get a few things from the store." Anne said.

"How's he adjusting? It's been over a year since he moved in here." Kim said.

"He seems to be doing fine now. I'm surprised you got him to learn English so fast." Anne said

"You can thank the fortress for that." Kim said as she sat on the couch.

A year and a half ago, Kim was patrolling over the pacific north-west when a strange object entered Earth's atmosphere and somehow landed in her fortress. It confused her beyond belief since the security precautions in the fortress would never allow anything to land inside it without her permission. When she went to investigate it, she was shocked to discover that the object was a small spacecraft. The bigger shock was that it was of Kryptonian design, and her family crest was engraved into the nose cone. Like her ship, it scanned its surroundings and scanned her thoroughly. After it was finished, an image of a man she never wanted to see appeared before her. Her uncle Zor-El.

"_This message was to be activated in the presence of a member of the House of El. That means my theory was correct, and my brother or his family have successfully made it to the planet known as Earth. I understand if you don't trust me upon seeing my image, for the blood that is stained on my hands shall haunt forever. But it is now that I have realized the error of my ways and beg forgiveness._

"_As you undoubtedly know, I helped General Zod destroy our home world of Krypton. Like others, I believed in the visions and ideals Zod had for our world and I've realized too late that I was wrong. After the destruction of Kandor, Brainiac sent a transmission to our colony on Argo. Once we received it, we discovered he had sent a virus. All our machines, our computers, everything started to shut down. Even the tera-forming process was terminated. Without them, our colony soon began to revert back to the planet's previous state. Slowly, our city was dying. I didn't have much time, so I only had the chance to save one member of my family._

"_Blame me for the destruction of our race and our home, but not my child. I beg of you, please help him survive. He is nothing like me, and I thank Rao for that. I beg of you, save my son. Save my Kal-El."_ Zor-El said before transmission stopped.

After the message ended, the main hatch opened with a loud hiss. Inside it was a young man. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. He had jet black hair, and wore a navy blue body suit with a polished shield of the House of El on his chest in green and black. As he opened his eyes, Kim could see they were an almost perfect hue of sky blue.

"W-who are you?" he asked in his native Kryptonian language.

Kim took a deep breath and thought back to what she had learned of her language so long ago before she answered him. "I'm Kara Jor-El. I'm your cousin."

* * *

The creature's footsteps almost sounded like a chant of doom as he walked. No matter what obstacle came his way, it would not block his path for long. He had entered a heavily wooded area some time ago, and he was growing more frustrated by the hour that the trees were in front of him. One tree stood proudly from the ground, having survived the trials of time for over one hundred years. In a matter of seconds, the creature's arm tore through the thick trunk and ripped it from what was left of a stump. Giant splinters of wood lay all around him as he stomped on the shattered stump and split it in two.

He didn't walk far until he began to growl in frustration and anger. His free hand tried to cover where his ear might be as it looked up to the sky. To any normal person, they would only see an odd shape flying with the clouds in the sky. To this mindless monster, he saw it perfectly. And the sound it was giving off was making his ears ring with pain. Glancing downward, the monster grasped a large piece of splintered wood tightly, and flung it at the irritating thing like it was a throwing knife.

* * *

"I still can't believe just one person caused all of this." Ice said as she looked at the Javelin's screen.

"I've seen much worse than this before." Shayera said as she and John piloted the ship.

"The only good thing about all this destruction is that he's leaving us a trail straight toward him." Stewart said.

"The sooner we find this guy, the sooner we beat the crap out of him and get home." Booster said.

"Do you ever shut up?" Stewart growled, glancing at him momentarily.

The beeping from her console caused fire to look away from the small pissing contest between Booster and Stewart. She gazed at the readings and was somewhat confused by what they were telling her. It simply didn't make sense.

"What have you got, Fire?" Vixen asked her.

"I'm not sure. It says there's something heading toward us, but the sensors don't know what it is." She said to them.

A large explosion rocked the small ship as the piece of wood shrapnel pierced them like a knife through cardboard. Everyone was gripping onto whatever they could as the ship began to fly wildly and went into a spiraling nose dive.

"The controls aren't responding. I'm loosing altitude fast!" Stewart shouted.

"The hydraulics are shot and the engines are overheating! Emergency eject!" Shayera said as she blew the hatch.

They were all out of the Javelin within moments. Booster was able to catch Ice while Shayera caught Vixen and helped them to the ground. They all looked up to see the tail end of the javelin completely engulfed in flames as Stewart covered in an energy force field. Stewart hovered a minute before he spun around once, twice, then three times and hurled the ship into the sky. The javelin exploded in a massive fireball far enough to where it would cause anyone harm.

"I can't believe that thing knocked us out of the sky." Vixen said.

"Knocked? Lady, we were speared." Booster said to her.

"Speaking of which, did anyone see where that thing went?" Ice asked them.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea." Shayera said as they looked at the pathway of destruction from the creature's wake. If it did was able to do this with one arm, who knows what else could happen if they didn't stop it.

"I'll scout on ahead. The rest of you follow me and make sure no one's hurt." Stewart said as his green aura formed and he took to the air.

* * *

It had been seen so many times over the years, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a calm quiet suburban neighborhood that had not yet been touched by the fingers of a big city, or the decay of street violence and gangs. It still breathed with life that so many people wish to have. One home seemed to be straight out of the dreams of so many suburban families that try to escape from the horrors of urban decay. It was a two story ranch home with two cars in the driveway. It also had a fenced in swimming pool that so many of the neighborhood children had spent so many days in the summer. And a backyard that was wide enough to fuel the imagination of any child for days on end.

That sunny day, the daughter of the couple who lived there, Annie Holobrook, was playing with a tea set with her favorite dolls. When she heard the loud boom, she saw the giant explosion that was high in the sky. For only a brief moment, she wondered why they would be shooting fireworks during the day. After she lost interest, she went back to playing with her dolls. However, her parents did take an interest at the fireball in the sky.

"Jane, did you see that?" Donny Holobrook asked.

"I'm checking all the news web sites, now, but I don't see anything."

"Do you think it was a refinery?"

"No, it couldn't have been. They're in the other direction." Jane answered as her husband walked to her. As he stood over her shoulder, Jane felt a slight tremble through the hard wood floors. She ignored it, thinking it was just the dryer in the basement below; until she felt it again.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Donny asked her. The tremble was felt again, but it felt more like a shudder. "I felt that." Donny said as the house shuddered. "Is that an explosion?"

"I don't know." Jane said as a harder shudder shook the house. "Where's Annie?" she asked as she began to look for their daughter.

Outside, Annie was still playing either stuffed animals. She hadn't even noticed the tremors at all. To her, everything was still normal and safe. She had no comprehension of time, life and death, or all the complications of the world around her. Everything was still black and white to her. Everything was normal. Until she saw the large shadow stretching over her, her toys, and a large part of the yard. Confusion grew in her mind to the reason of the strange shadow. Then she heard low and deep growl coming from behind her. She turned and saw a large pair of dirty green boots in front of her. She looked upward and squinted as she saw the rays of the sun peeking from behind the man's head. She covered her eyes like she had seen her mother do so many times, and saw the hooded man was looking down at her through the red goggles in his mask.

"Hi." She said to the one armed man, but received a growl in return. "Do you want some tea?" she asked as she held up an empty pink cup to the behemoth in front of her, but only received another growl in response.

"ANNIE!" her father shouted, causing her too look at her father as she saw him looking at her with wide eyes.

"Are you okay, daddy?" she asked him, unaware that the monster behind her had raised its spiked fist and was ready to bring it down upon her with all the strength it had in its arm. The only comforting thought would be that the little girl wouldn't see the final blow coming.

"**LEAVE THAT KID ALONE!"** John Stewart screamed as he flew in from out of the sky, forming a large battering ram with his ring and hitting the monster as hard as he possibly could.

The force of the blow actually cracked and crushed parts of the energy construct, but was effective in its task. The blow sent the monster flying slightly upward as it sailed over the rest of the houses, and crashed into one of the refinery silos. The impact from the creature caused it to explode in a giant explosion, causing the silo next to it to erupt in a fireball as well and shower the surrounding area in heated metal debris.

"Is she all right?" Stewart asked as both Donny and Jane held their crying daughter tightly in their arms.

"She's okay." Donny said with relief.

"Things are going to get ugly. All of you need to get out of here as fast as you can. Tell everyone else!" Stewart shouted as he took to the air and headed straight for where the creature landed.

* * *

Stewart had to strengthen his aura field as he entered the blaze. The smoke alone would have killed anything that got near the inferno. The heat inside was almost as bad as venturing inside a volcano. If it hadn't been for the ring, he would have been the human torch as soon as he touched down. Stewart had to venture slowly through the inferno as he looked for the masked monster. He hated having to kill, but there were some occasions when he didn't have a choice. Many of the missions he went on when he was a Marine, and a few times since he started his service in the Green Lanterns. But right now, after seeing what that thing was fixing to do without hesitation, he hoped to God that he had killed that bastard when he threw him into the silos.

The fire was so intense and the smoke was so thick, he could barley see anything. He would try to create something with his ring, but all his concentration was being used to keep himself from being burned and suffocated. But the worst thing about the inferno was that it was also good cover for something that didn't need protection from the fire and smoke.

John screamed as he felt four jagged claws hit him with enough force to pierce through the protective emerald field and claw him from the back of his head to the lower part of his jaw. The blow sent him staggering forward, barley missing the upstroke of the creature's next attack. Stewart turned and hit the creature with a powerful energy blast, sending him back a few feet. The creature looked up through the smoke and fire, the dark burned patch on his suit still smoking, and began to growl with rage as it looked at the Green Lantern.

"Great. I pissed him off." Stewart said to himself as he felt blood from his wound drip down his neck like it was water.

With a loud guttural scream of unbridled rage, the creature charged with its fist balled. The creature lashed out at him, but Stewart dodged and watched as the creature's fist went through solid concrete. Faster than he could follow, the creature brought his hand upward and backhanded Stewart. John tumbled out of the blaze and struck hard against what felt like a building. He looked up in time to see the spiked fist coming straight at his face and rolled out of the way, only to be kicked in the abdomen and knocked to the ground. He knew he had to get up, but his muscles wouldn't let him as they burned from the impact of the blow. He could feel and hear the creature running towards him, he had to get up!

The creature's foot slammed hard on John's forearm, snapping the bones like brittle twigs. John screamed in pain before the creature's other foot hit him in the face and caused him to begin to tumble. With the creature's foot anchoring him in place, John came to a stop as he felt his shoulder forcefully yanked out of joint and hard! Stewart screamed in pain as the creature only laughed like he had seen the world's funniest joke. The creature reached down and gripped Stewart tightly by the jaw. John was groaning in pain as he felt his arm lay limp at his side and the creature's jagged fingernails dug into the wounds on his jaw from the first blow. His groans were becoming more agonized screams as the creature chuckled and began to squeeze tighter.

"LET HIM GO!" Shayera shouted as she swooped in and bashed the creature in the face as hard as she could with her energized mace. The surprise from the unexpected attack made the creature drop John as he focused on the winged pest before him.

John's legs were weak, and his mind was flooded with all the pain that was in his arm in shoulder. He had to push through it. He knew Shayera couldn't take that thing on by herself. He looked down and saw that the bones were jutting from his arm like knives through meat. He quickly reached down and removed the ring as from his finger as he groaned from the massive pain with his arm only twitching. As soon as the ring was off, he stuck it in his mouth and began to slip his other ring finger through it. After it was on most of the way, he used his teeth to pull it on the rest of the way. He balled his fist and smiled when he saw the ring glow with life. Quickly, he began to tend to his broken arm as he stood back to his feet. He glared at the creature as it narrowly missed Shayera with one swing of its fist.

"HEY ASSHOLE!" Stewart shouted, causing the creature to look up at him. "You looked." He said as a large tank was formed and fired a shell directly at the creature.

The shell sent the monster flying through the metal behind with a loud crash, causing other machinery inside to collapse as the monster plowed through them. Shayera touched down and quickly rushed over to Stewart as the tank vanished.

"My God. He did this?" she asked as she saw the state he was in.

"The bastard – is – is tougher than I – than I thought." Stewart panted.

"You can't fight anymore. We've got to,"

"LOOK OUT!"

A piece of broken concrete shot out from the hole in the building, hitting Shayera directly in the head and knocking her unconscious. The creature rushed out with a scream of anger knocked John tot he side, causing him to hit a pipeline hard enough to bend it and knock him out cold as he fell to the ground in a heap. The creature stomped over to the man and began to raise his foot to squash him like a bug.

With speed of a cheetah, Vixen quickly rushed to the monster and used the strength of a rogue elephant to knock him off of his feet. The creature looked at the woman in the gold suit in confusion, wondering how in the world she was able to do that.

"You want him, you're going to have to get through me tall, green, and ugly." She said to the creature.

The creature stood and tried to ram the woman, only for her to sidestep out of his way and kicked him in the arm as hard as she could. The blow caused the fragment of bone that was growing out of his arm to break off, causing the creature to pause as it roared in pain. If Vixen could have had a moment to gloat, it was short lived. In its anger, it punched Vixen in the face with enough force to send her colliding into another silo with a resounding crack echoing in the air once she struck. She could feel her arm had been broken, and quickly used her talisman for the healing properties of a lizard to mend the bone quickly.

That's when the creature's fist slammed into her abdomen, lifting her a foot off the ground before he hit her again and again. Vixen was on her knees in agony as the monster grasped her firmly by the head and slammed her face first into one of the silos and slamming her in the back. Monique was bleeding from the four puncture wounds caused by the spikes as she tried to turn and fight. The monster's fist slammed hard against her face once, and then another. Her ears were ringing and her vision was blurred. She was slightly dizzy and could barley stand. The monster's fist slammed into her again, making her fall to one foot. Monique was bleeding from the wounds in her back, and from a few puncture wounds to her gut from the earlier blows. She was also bleeding from her nose, mouth, and possibly one of her ears. She tried to stand back up, clinging to the cold and hard silo for dear life. She was almost to her feet when the monster backhanded her, and dragged its claws across her chest.

Monique fell to the ground, barley conscious. Her costume was ripped with one breast exposed, and four deep cuts across her torso and bleeding all over herself. She didn't know where she was, and both of her eyes were swelling shut. She was in so much pain, she couldn't even mumble for one of her fellow teammates to save her. The monster grabbed Vixen by the arm and flung her away from him like a child with a broken toy.

"MONIQUE, NO!" Shayera cried as she tried to take to the air to catch her.

Shayera was only a few feet off the ground before she felt something grab her ankle and forcefully slam her into the ground hard before throwing her against a wall. With Stewart and Shayera crumpled into a heap, Monique flew through the air until she came crashing downward over a pipe with a loud thud. Fire, Ice, and Booster came running onto the scene after evacuating the neighborhood, only to find the horror that was left. They couldn't believe what they all saw before them. Two senior League members, and one of the most skilled heroes they ever saw, were all beaten within an inch of their lives. But it was Monique that looked worse for wear. Ice wasn't even sure if she was still breathing.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Look what he did." Fire said to her teammates.

"Vixen?" Booster asked as he knelt by the injured woman's side. "My God. I never imagined – I didn't – she needs help. We've got to get her to a hospital."

"No. We have to go after what did this to them." Fire said.

"ARE YOU NUTS?! IF WE DON'T GET HER HELP, SHE COULD DIE!" Booster screamed.

"And if we don't stop that thing, who knows how many others will die!" Fire said.

"PLEASE!" Ice screamed, making them both stop arguing. "There has to be something we can do. We can't just leave her." Ice said as tears rolled down her face.

"I'll do it." Shayera said as she slowly rose to her feet, and wiped the blood from her mouth. "One of those emergency crews can get her to a hospital. I can at least get her that far." She said as she limped over to Monique and Stewart began to wake up.

"But we might need your help." Fire said.

"It'll take more than a mace to stop that thing. You three may have a better chance at him." Shayera said to them.

"Then we better go after him before it's too late." Booster said as he looked at the path of destruction the creature had made.

"I'm going with you." Stewart said as the energy from his ring set the bones in his arm as he did his best to hold back from screaming.

"Like hell you are. You're almost in as bad a shape as Vixen!" Shayera said to him.

"Like you said, their powers may be the only ones to have a shot, and they're going to need my ring. _I_ have to do this, Shayera."

"Then get Du to help them. Or Kilowog,"

"It would take them too long to get here and you know it. I've got to do this."

"Even if it gets you killed?"

"I'm a Marine, Shayera. We don't die, we improvise." He said as he leaned in and grasped her lips with his, kissing her as deeply as he could. "Just make sure she gets help, and fast." John said to her.

Shayera lifted Vixen's limp body into her arms, and watched as the four went after the monster. She just hoped they would be all right. As she took to the air and saw her wounded friend, that hope began to dwindle at a fast pace. Shayera could never recall fighting such a creature like that before, not even when she fought the bounty hunter Lobo two years before she came to Earth. It was almost as if Armageddon had taken a physical form and had been unleashed upon the Earth.

* * *

"What's this big news?" Anne asked.

"What's that?" Kim asked her.

"What's the news you have for me? You told me you and Ronald wanted to tell me something."

"Mom, I think the news already said it." Kim told her.

"But is it true?" Anne asked her daughter. A large smile appeared on her face when her daughter raised her left hand and proudly showed the beautiful diamond ring that rested on her hand. "Congratulations, honey." Anne said as she hugged her daughter tightly, "I still can't believe it."

"Neither can I." Kal-El said as he walked in and rushed to the television set.

"What do you mean that you can't believe it? It's wonderful news." Anne said to the young man, making him pause.

"Wonderful? How can you consider something so horrible as wonderful?" Kal-El asked as he wondered if their sanity was still intact.

"KAL!" Anne said sternly.

"Kal-El, I thought you'd be happy that I'm engaged." Kim said to him.

"Engaged?" Kal asked them. Even though he had learned most of the human language, he still hadn't learned all of it yet.

"Kal, I'm going to get married." Kim said to him.

"Oh. Oh! You mean you thought I was talking about?" Kal asked as he suddenly became embarrassed. "Kara, that is great news. Really, it is. But I wasn't talking about your betrothal." He quickly said

"Then what were you talking about?" Kim asked him.

"This." Kal said as he turned on the television and quickly switched it to one of the news channels.

"_We've just received word that members of the Justice League were unable to stop the creature that is now being called Doomsday. Wait just a moment."_ The reporter said as she listened to her ear piece. _"Oh my God."_ She said before turning back to the camera.

"_I have just received word that the heroine known as Vixen has just been hospitalized for massive injuries external and internal injuries caused by the creature, Doomsday. She is currently listed as stable, but still in critical condition."_

"Monique." Kim gasped as she began to turn pale. Kim rushed to her purse and began digging through it, trying to find her ear piece as her breathing started getting faster. Out of frustration, she turned her purse ver and dumped the contents all over the coffee table. As soon as she found it, she activated it and jammed it into her right ear.

"J'onn? J'onn, can you hear me?!" Kim shouted.

"_I'm here. I've been trying to contact you for the past hour."_

"J'onn, is true? What they've been saying about Monique?"

"_She's stable, but she isn't out of the woods yet. It would appear her talisman is still active, which why she isn't already dead."_

"How bad is she hurt?"

"_She has internal bleeding and trauma, as well as several stab wounds. She's also suffered severe head trauma and injuries to her spine. If she makes it, they don't know if she'll ever regain consciousness or walk."_

"Oh, God." Kim said as several tears began to make themselves known. "They said members on the TV, J'onn. Who else is hurt?"

"_Shayera has several broken ribs, a broken ankle as well as a fractured collar bone, and a concussion. From what she told me, John Stewart has several lacerations and a broken arm. She also said that it may also be dislocated. He's currently with Fire, Ice, and Booster pursuing Doomsday right now."_

"Tell me where." Kim growled.

* * *

"Whoa. That thing's huge." Ice said as they finally caught up to Doomsday as he lay waste to car dealership.

"I still can't believe he did all this with one arm behind his back." Fire said as she saw him flatten a corvette.

"Believe it." Stewart said as he looked at his injured arm. "We need to take this thing down fast, but we need think of a plan of attack."

"I've got your plan of attack. We fry this thing until he looks like a bad order of KFC." Booster said and bolted after Doomsday.

"Stupid punk." Stewart growled as he flew in, hoping he could create a force field around him in time.

Booster charged his suit, aimed, and fired an energy blast out of both his gauntlets in the middle of the monster's back. The monster stood still as Booster saw a thick layer of smoke rising and smiled. He was sure the creature probably had a hole in him the size of a tire by now. The smile quickly faded when he saw he had only burned part of his clothes, and heard the monster growling. The creature turned and Booster saw that one of the eyepieces had been broken, and it revealed an eye covered by several bone spikes protruding from its eyebrow.

"Oops." Booster said as he activated his force field as John came up behind him.

Doomsday landed a swift uppercut to Booster's face, propelling him upwards and hitting John square in the face. As Booster flew higher and higher into the air, John collapsed to the ground and out as a light as blood ran down his face from his shattered nose and teeth. It didn't take the monster long to notice the emerald haired woman, and the woman with the snow white mane.

"YOU SON OF A WHORE!" Fire shouted as she was engulfed in emerald flame, making herself seem she was a living human torch.

She hovered above Doomsday as she unleashed an intense torrent of fire at the monstrosity. She was pouring everything she could into the fire blast, determined to make this creature pay for what he had done to her friends. She knew it was petty and un-heroic to want revenge, but she didn't care. From the torrent of flames, Doomsdays' fist shot forth and grasped fire by her face and shoved her into the concrete as hard as he could. With a growl of frustration, Doomsday lifted a GMC Canyon high above his head and slammed it down upon the fire maiden and laughed as her fire ignited the gas tank and caused the vehicle to explode.

Ice quickly ran forward and extinguished the flames by covering the smoldering vehicle in a large block of ice. With only a moment to act before Doomsday was on top of her, the heroine immediately turned her powers on the monster. More and more ice and snow began to form all over the creature's body as he began to slow. Soon, the creature was entombed in several feet of thick, solid ice. The young woman breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to what was left of the truck and dove next to it. She could see fire was underneath the heap, and that her powers might have protected her from the explosion.

"Fire? Fire, it's Tora. Please Beatriz, wake up." Ice said to her.

By the time she heard the sound of ice shatter, it was already too late for her. Doomsday was screaming with pure rage as he punched Ice in the side, sending her flying over the burned heap and landing hard on her back. She barley had to time to gasp when the heap was destroyed by Doomsday tearing through the wreck and kicked Ice in the ribs, sending her flying through the glass doors of the dealership and into the showroom. Her sides felt they were on fire, and it was painful for her to breath. She could feel pieces of glass in her hands and on her face as she began to feel various places begin to ooze warm blood. She didn't even know how she was thrown in here. The monster was just too fast. She was shaking all over as she tried to prop herself up, until a massive weight slammed into her ribs again. As the second blow hammered on top of her, she realized too late that it was the monster's fist as it came down a third and a fourth time.

Ice was curled up into a fetal position as she felt the pain flood all through her. It was too much for her to handle. It was hurting so bad that she was actually trying to cry, but no sounds were coming from her as she winced, cringed, and wept all at the same time. But doomsday wasn't finished with her yet. Not satisfied yet, the monster let out a loud yell as his fist tore into a wall and ripped out most of it as he yanked his arm all the way across. With out the support of the load bearing wall, the ceiling cracked and broke apart. Pieces of plaster, installation, and ventilation ducks crashed on top of ice, with pieces of office equipment from the upper floor adding to it. With no sign of visible movement, the monster turned and stomped away as he took out the other wall of the showroom.

* * *

He couldn't believe what had happened to him. He had barley got his force field up in time before that thing sucker punched him. The force field in his suit could take on many things, but he still felt that punch hit him like a ton of bricks. He wasn't sure, but he thought he had hit someone or something as he was sent skyward. He was trying to activate his gyros to try and gain some control, but his speed wouldn't allow it. This was just so wrong – on so many levels. He knew that he needed some sense knocked into him, but not like this. He had let down the League, and his team. There was no telling what the thing had done the rest of them. What was he going to do now?

"I think this your stop." An all too familiar voice said as something caught him by the scruff of his uniform and bringing him to forceful stop.

"YOU!" Booster said in shock as he saw the flowing red cape and the familiar blue uniform.

"What happened?" Superwoman asked him.

"It's unbelievable. This thing took down most of us with one hand behind his back! He even sent me up here!" Booster said.

"What about Vixen?" she asked him.

"She – it didn't look good. That thing just – I couldn't," Booster said, but couldn't find the words to explain. "Listen SW, I'm sorry about being an ass. I had no idea what you guys went up against." He tried to say.

"Now's not the time or the place. Just show me where you last saw that thing."

"Sure." Booster said as he lead the way with Superwoman following right behind him. Round One was over, and Round Two was fixing to begin.


	3. Meta Brawl

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

"DAMN IT, SOMEONE HELP ME GET THE THING OFF OF HER!" the fire chief said as his men tried to hack away the large block of ice that the burned and totaled truck was in.

When Ice had frozen it, she had also iced it to the ground and had trapped Fire underneath it. She had a few holes to allow in air, but the rescue crews were afraid she would die of hypothermia. They were trying to break away the thick ice so they could either push or lift the destroyed truck off of her. While they were trying to rescue Fire, the rescue crew were inside and trying to clear enough of the debris and rubble off of Ice and get her medical help. But so far, everything seemed to be going slowly. Too slow for the fire chief.

"This is taking too long!"

"Sorry, chief. But it's almost as bad as cutting down a redwood." One of the officers said.

"Can't we get blowtorches or something?"

"We can't risk it. There's probably unburned gas mixed with that thing. One flame could ignite the sucker again."

"There's gotta be something we can use!" the fire chief shouted as he ground his teeth in frustration.

No sooner than he had said the words, the giant frozen wreck broke free from the ground it had been frozen to and lifted high in the air. When they saw who had lifted it, both of them took a step back in slight fear. Superwoman's muscles were tensed as she kept the truck high in the air, and looked absolutely pissed off at the world. Her frown worsened as she slightly turned and tossed the heap into an open area of the lot, and watched as most of the ice break off and crack as it landed.

"Will that work?" she growled at them.

"S-sure. Thanks S-Superwoman." The fire chief said as he and his men rushed to help Fire out of the small hole in the concrete. However, all of them jumped back when a burst of green flame erupted like a blown gas main.

"Where's Tora?" the emerald heroine asked as she warmed herself.

"Oh my God." Booster said when he glanced into the dealership itself and saw Ice on a stretcher.

As fast as they could, all three heroes ran to her as the paramedics were rushing her to a waiting ambulance. Half of her face was covered in blood, with numerous cuts and bruises all over her. Some of the cuts from the debris that had covered her were deep, allowing blood to bleed like a faucet and stain her light blue and white uniform various shades of red and brown. The one thing Fire noticed when she rushed to her friend's side was she was having so much trouble breathing.

"Tora? Tora, please talk to me." The woman said as the flames engulfing her body went out as she tried to brush some of her blood soaked hair out of her face.

"You have to let us by, miss. She's in real bad shape right now." One paramedic said as he placed a stethoscope against her chest. During this time, Kim quickly x-rayed Ice to see how bad of shape she was in. What she saw wasn't pretty.

"Several of her ribs are broken and one's punctured her lung." Kim told them.

"Thanks, ma'am. We'll take it from here." The paramedic said as he and his partner loaded her into the ambulance.

Fire's heart almost sank and broke at the same time as the doors to the back of the ambulance slammed closed, and quickly sped away with her injured friend inside. She knew there powers were opposites, but Tora was the closest thing she has to a sister. She couldn't call her a lover, but one of the truest friends she had ever had. She was truly afraid for her friend's life as she watched her speed out of sight. The other thing that boiled in her mind at that moment besides the fear was her want to make that monster pay.

"Hey, she's going to be all right." Booster said, trying to comfort her.

"I hope so. But I want to make sure I make that bastard burn before he burns in hell." Fire growled.

"If you two are done." Stewart said, making all the heroes turn to see him. His arm was now in a quick splint and field dressing, while his face had a few bandages here and there while he used his ring to repair his costume. "We still have to stop that thing, and we need a clear head."

"But he,"

"No, Fire. John's right. We all need a clear head right now." Superwoman said to her. "So what do you think we should do, John?" Kim asked him.

"That thing is damn fast, and too damn strong. He was actually able to break through my force field, and you saw what he did to Booster. We might need to combine our powers to try and stop him." John said.

"You mean – vaporize him?" Booster asked.

"I don't think it would kill him. But maybe it can stop him long enough for us to take him down. But yeah, there's a chance we may vaporize him."

"No, John. I'm not going to kill." Superwoman said to him.

"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears." John said to her.

"Let me try and go up against him. If I can't take him down, then we'll try it your way as a last resort." She said to them.

"Out of the question." John said.

"Stewart,"

"Don't start with me. I've already lost three members of my team, and I'm not going to loose anymore." Stewart said to Superwoman's face.

"And all of you don't have the abilities I have. I've gone up against things that would have made some Marines piss all over themselves. So back off and let me try it my way."

"Now wait just a," Stewart said, but wasn't able to finish as Superwoman flew off out of sight.

"What do we do now?" Fire asked.

"We follow her. After everything that thing's done, I'm not even sure she can fight it."

"What? Come on, she's Superwoman." Booster said.

"Booster, I've seen David and Goliath scenarios where Goliath beat David into a bloody pulp. So I don't care how tough she is, we're not going to let her walk into a suicide situation. Come on." John said as he took to the air with fire and Booster right behind him.

* * *

Kim knew it was rude and not like her to fly off while Stewart was trying to explain something to her, but she just couldn't help it. Monique was in the hospital in really bad shape, and it looked like Ice wasn't in much better shape either. And she couldn't get over how beat up Stewart was. She couldn't let anyone else get hurt. She just couldn't. No, it was up to her. She couldn't let anymore of her friends get hurt. This was her responsibility. She was just glad Ron wasn't here at that moment. The last thing she needed was him giving her one of his speeches, or trying to go up against that thing. It was still ironic. She was the one that would give him the speeches about doing something reckless. No, she had to keep her mind on the here and now.

"Hey! Mind if we tag along?" Booster asked as he flew beside Superwoman.

"Booster, back off." Superwoman said.

"Not a chance." Fire said as she flew in on Superwoman's right.

"Yeah. If you hadn't noticed, it's called the Justice League, and not Just Us." Booster joked.

"Can it, Golden Boy. We've got a job to do." Stewart said as they saw the monster tearing up the construction sight for another suburban neighborhood. "Here we go. Remember, now grand standing or trying to be a hero."

"Booster, what was it you were calling this thing again?" Superwoman asked as they landed in front of the monster. As soon as they landed, the creature turned and immediately began to growl as soon as he saw Superwoman. For some reason, something was drawing him to her. There was something about her he – absolutely hated and loathed. Without any hesitation, he began to charge with his fist raised, ready to strike her down. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Doomsday." She said as she stood her ground and tensed her muscles.

Doomsday's fist hit against her chest, and was stopped cold as the impact echoed like a sonic boom. Booster, Fire, and John just stood there shocked as they saw Superwoman take a blow that could have caved in a mountain without even so much as flinching. But Superwoman, in her mind, was slightly wincing at the blow. She had to admit, that this thing probably would have knocked the wind out of her if she hadn't tensed up when she did. Doomsday himself seemed confused as he took a step backwards and looked down at his fist. With a growl of anger, he kicked Superwoman in the chest as hard as he could and sent her flying backwards as fast as a bullet out of a gun.

The others watched as Superwoman crashed through two completed houses, one still being constructed, and crashed into a large bulldozer; knocking it over end over end as she sunk into the compilation of steel and iron. Doomsday began charging at the other heroes as the three houses Superwoman plowed through began collapsing, but was rewarded with a massive blast of emerald energy that sent him down onto his backside in the dirt.

Booster immediately began pelting the monster with energy blasts from his gauntlets, only to find Doomsday's callused hand at his throat and thrown into the second floor of one of the built homes. Booster flew through the wall of the house and into the second story. The speed he was traveling at made him fall through the floor of the second story, and went crashing through the roof of the downstairs bathroom and landed on top of the toilet.

"Anyone got a magazine?" he asked himself as he tried to get back to his feet.

Meanwhile, Doomsday was hurling pieces of construction equipment he was near while John and Fire were doing their best to dodge him. Fire kept trying to blast the monster in the face, but that only seemed to anger him more.

"We need back up!" Fire shouted as a cement mixer missed her head by only a few inches.

"You think?!" John asked as used his ring to dig a trench behind Doomsday, making the creature fall into it.

As they heard the monster growl as he slowly stood to his feet, and climbed his way out, they would have sworn the Earth itself was fixing to open itself. They could see that the bone spikes that were protruding from his elbow had joined as one massive bone spike, and it looked like there were two others forming on his knees. The broken lens in his mask had been ripped away in the fight and was now exposing a sky blue eye that was turning a full blood red.

"We're definitely going to need the Calvary." Fire said as the creature let out a roar that would have terrified a Tyrannosaurus.

"The Calvary's here!" Superwoman said as she flew past them and belted Doomsday in the face, sending him tumbling across and through the construction site and almost taking out a dazed Booster as he went.

"HOLY CRAP!" Booster shouted as he saw the creature skid to a stop, digging up the ground as he did so.

"Damn." John said as he saw the creature try to stand to its feet.

"I know. I didn't hit him hard enough." Superwoman said.

"GUYS! HE'S GETTING UP!" Booster shouted as the monster began to roar again.

"Not for long." John said as he used his ring to create an F-10 fighter heading toward the creature at top speed.

The emerald jet collided with the creature in a massive explosion, sending the creature flying backwards while the feedback knocked Stewart onto his back again.

"JOHN!" Fire said as she rushed to his side.

"I'll be fine." He groaned as he stood back to his feet. "Please tell me that thing didn't survive."

"Wrong. He – oh sweet Jesus." Superwoman said and immediately went in the direction the creature had been sent.

* * *

If Doomsday had been a normal human, he wouldn't have been able to draw any kind of breath at the speed he had been traveling. Every skid along the ground dug a small trench that was big enough to fit a full size casket in as he barreled through not only a few more homes, but had also sent him into the side of a full size bulldozer. The impact caved in on side of it and shattered the engine while toppling it over at the same time. The impact sent Doomsday upward and over the rest of the construction sight, sending him colliding downward into the middle of the busy street. Several cars turned and skidded away from the impact sight, with some of them coming to a complete stop while others collided into other cars.

From the debris cloud, Doomsday rose from the crater with murderous rage in his only visible eye, with all his bone spikes now piercing through the green cloth that covered him. Even his restraints were now starting to protest with every move. And at that moment, he really, really wanted to destroy something. And the first thing he saw was the fully loaded school bus that was beside him. He could hear the children inside of it screaming with terror at the sight of him. It was as sweet to him as the taste of a rare wine. But at the same time, the very sight of him enraged him. His anger and rage were unparalleled as he felt nothing but the strong and wanton urge to pound them into the dirt. He had raised his fist high to begin the assault, when his ears heard something coming towards him.

Doomsday spun at the last minute and drove his fist hard into the ground, sending Superwoman face first into the concrete with it. It's laugh was like the sound of doom as Superwoman spit pieces of asphalt out of her mouth. Using her speed and agility, she spun herself out of the small hole the monster had made and swept his legs out from under him. Using her speed to her advantage, she balled her hands together as he fell and slammed them both into the center of his sternum and hit him hard enough to embed the monster in the street. The sudden attack had left the monster slightly dazed while Superwoman hissed in pain as she separated her hands. She felt more bone forming on his chest when she hit him, but it felt like she had slammed her hands on solid rock that was stronger than her. She hadn't felt pain like this since she was trapped inside the Phantom Zone.

Pain flooded her senses as Doomsday punched her in the chin, sending her flying upward and landing on top of a taxi; crushing its roof inward and shattering the windows. As she winced and reeled from the sudden blow, she quickly scanned the Taxi's interior and let out a sigh of relief when she saw no one inside of it. A small scream of pain and mainly surprise escaped her throat as the monster slammed its fist in the center of her back and kicked her in the face. Now it was Superwoman's turn to feel disoriented as she tumbled and slammed into the side of minivan. Kim could hear the screams of the two children inside of it, as well as the woman who was behind the wheel of it.

"It's all right. I'll get you out of here." Superwoman said to them.

"LOOK OUT!" the woman screamed as she pointed to something behind Superwoman.

Not even the Maiden of Steel had time to even look before Doomsday had grasped the van and began slamming it against the concrete, trying to squash Superwoman like a bug. He slammed the vehicle three more times against the road before throwing it aside. The van crashed through the side of a restaurant before skidding to a stop on its side. Superwoman was dazed as she felt the heap of the van on top of her. As she opened her eyes, she wished she had kept them closed. She could see the woman who had been driving the van was slumping lifelessly with blood pouring out of her head. The broken wheel and dashboard showed the hero that she must have hit both, and the impact had caved in part of her face. One child was also slumped lifeless in the back seat with his head slung in a sickening position. His neck had been snapped.

But the youngest was still alive! She was alive, but not in very good shape. Acting quickly, Superwoman began butting the minivan apart while also ripping some of the twisted frame apart. Soon, Superwoman emerged from the mangled car with the small child cradled in her arms.

"My God. A-are you okay?" one of the diners asked the heroine.

"I am, but she's not." She answered as she held the child close to her.

"We already called 911." Another patron said.

"They won't get here in time. Try and get everyone out the back, and get out of here as fast as you can. I don't know what that thing is, but its not showing any sign of stopping." Superwoman shouted as he ran out of the restaurant and to where she could hear the nearest ambulance.

* * *

John, Booster, and Fire were in shock as they saw all tha carnage in the streets. Not just the damage that had been caused from Doomsday trying to kill Superwoman, but all the bodies that were mangled in his wake by demolishing anything in its way. Some people even looked like he had smashed them just because they were there.

"Oh, God. H-how can one thing do all this?" Booster asked in disbelief.

"I don't even want to know why he's doing this." Fire said to herself.

"Wait a minute. Where's Superwoman?" John asked.

"I'm here." She said as she stopped in front of them. She got the child to the nearest paramedics, but was as horrified as the rest of them at the sight of all the carnage, chaos, and destruction. "Stewart, remember that plan of yours? Using our powers to vaporize him?" she asked the Green Lantern.

"Yeah?"

"I've changed my mind. Let's burn the bastard." She said to them. When she glanced back at them, she noticed the shocked look on Fire's face. "What is it?"

"You're bleeding." Fire said, causing Superwoman's eyes to widen.

"What?"

"On your forehead, Red." Booster told her.

Superwoman wiped her forehead, and hissed when she felt the sting of finding the cut. She looked at her fingers, and saw the wet crimson stains on them.

"I-I'll be fine. The wound's already closing. Right now, we have to stop Doomsday." Superwoman said as they all followed the path of destruction.

"J'onn?" Superwoman asked into her communicator.

"_I'm already aware of the situation. I'm sending members of the League to help with the evacuation and to help the injured."_

"Good."

"_I'm also looking for other members to aide you and the others. Maybe,"_

"No, J'onn. Let me and the others try something else first. If it doesn't work, then send in back up."

"_Are you sure?"_

"I'm sure, J'onn."

"_All right. But be careful. Watchtower, out."_

"I'm not letting anyone else get hurt today because of that thing." She said to herself as she followed Doomsday path.

* * *

The man was screaming as loud as he could as he was paralyzed by pure abject terror. In one instant, his screams stopped as Doomsday crushed his head in its fist with a loud and wet crunch. Doomsday flung the corpse into the side of a building next to him as the screams of the citizens echoed, making his anger grow even worse. No matter how fast they were running, he was faster. All the grotesque horror and carnage he was creating as the spikes on his hand stabbed and ripped flesh open like wrapping paper brought nothing but a sick pleasure and satisfaction to him as he kept laughing louder and louder.

His laughing was halted as Superwoman came from behind and planted both feet into his back and sent him plowing through the street and into the sewers below. The heroes landed beside Superwoman and readied themselves and the street began to rumble, and they heard Doomsday roaring below.

"Remember, hit him with everything you got." Stewart said and as his ring began glowing brightly.

"We got it, Lantern. No letting up until he's down for the count." Booster said as his gauntlets began to power up.

The street to shake violently as the pavement began to crack. Each blow the street received from below was sounding like a chant of doom. Soon, the street broke as Doomsday rose from it. Covered in the filth of the sewers, Doomsday used his one free hand to pull himself out and rose to his full height.

"NOW!" Superwoman shouted as unleashed a massive wave of her heat vision while Fire, Booster, and John blasted the monster with everything they had.

The monster became engulfed in a massive fireball of energy, with smoke bellowing off of him as he was bombarded by energy. Every one of them kept pouring the energy at the creature, pushing themselves to their limit against him. Soon, the fireball was so massive that they could no longer see the creature as the concrete began to become molten, and the metal of the near by cars and lamp posts began to glow red from the massive amount of heat.

"I-I'm getting tired." Fire said as she had trouble staying afloat. She had never, in her life, pushed herself this far before.

"Ignore it, Fire! Just keep pushing!" Stewart said as he kept pouring on the energy.

'_Ring energy at twenty-seven percent and dropping.'_ His ring told him.

"Don't tell me that right now." He growled back at it.

Soon, Fire's energy blast began to flicker as Booster's quickly followed. The steel of the near by cars were beginning to warp as their structures began to give and bend.

"It's no use. I'm spent." Fire said as her the green fire covering her body was extinguished and she fell to the ground as Booster's energy blasts ceased all together.

"Same here; my suit's drained. Without my power cells, I'm as powerful as Sokka from The Avatar." Booster said as he began to feel the weight of the suit get to him.

"And you're ring has to be running on fumes by now, John. Let's stop. There's no way Doomsday survived that." Kim said as she stopped her heat vision and John powered down his ring.

When they heard the loud thud, all of them felt their blood freeze. Soon, another thud echoed and caused the ground to shake. Follow by another, and another. As the smoke cleared, they saw him. Not only was Doomsday still standing, but now both of his hands were now free. The green mask and shirt was completely burned away to reveal that his entire body was a dark shade of gray With his muscles bigger, wider, and more toned than anything any of them had ever seen. His eyes were now completely blood red with a black iris in the center. He had spikes extending from the knuckles on both of his hands, hes elbows, knees, and from his shoulders as well. A long mane of white hair flowed from the top of his head, with jutting bone spikes extending from his eyebrows, on the bridge of his nose, and even his jaw line. There was even a formation of bone on the center of his chest. It was almost as if they were trying to form a strange type of armor.

"Holy mother of God." John said as the monster roared as loud as he could.

"H-he took all that – and he doesn't even have a scratch." Superwoman said, unable to believe what she was looking at.

"Holy sh,"

None of them even realized what had happened, even as Booster's words were cut off. Doomsday had charged them, with his legs free from the binding fabric, and slammed Stewart and Fire together. The force of their impact knocked Stewart unconscious and fractured his chin and jaw while Fire's nose was shattered and she lost three of her teeth. Both feel to the ground hard as Doomsday kept running forward and bashed Superwoman in the side of the head. As she began to reel backwards from the blow, Doomsday grasped her by the front of her uniform and flung her down the street. She didn't even have time to try and figure what had happened to her as she flew down the street and found herself going through the windshield of a greyhound bus. Superwoman hit the floor of the bus and bounced once before tearing through the back of the bus and taking it with her before she skidded to a stop.

Booster saw everything happening in front of him almost as if it was in slow motion. The monster before him had single handedly taken the power of a Green Lantern and Superwoman and came out looking pissed off. The monster took down his team whole team, killed so many, and was laughing at everything like he had seen the world's funniest joke. Now, the creature was standing in front of him and looked down at him with its blood red eyes as a small growl came from his throat. His jagged teeth looked more like the scary rocks at the bottom of a cartoon water fall as his skin looked like it was living concrete. Why? Why was he doing this? There was just no reason for it. Booster knew he might not live from the beating he knew was coming, but he was a member of the Justice League. And he wasn't going to give this thing the satisfaction of seeing him sweat.

"I hope the League shoves those spikes of your so far up your ass, that you'll taste them for the rest of your life." He said to it.

Booster screamed in pain as Doomsday slammed the sides of its fists into his arms, shattering the bones and tearing the muscle. As Booster kept screaming, Doomsday firmly grasped him by the head and slammed his fist into Booster's mid section over and over again until he let the limp hero fall to the ground. If Booster could have grasped his abdomen, he would have of his arms weren't broken and useless. He kept tasting copper in his mouth as he vomited blood and felt it run down his face while he bled from the stab wound the spikes had made. He could still see slightly and saw the monster looming over him. Booster never saw the next blow coming as Doomsday kicked him in the hips, and sent Booster soaring into the air. Booster had no sense of balance as the saw the world roll all around him and felt a sense of weightlessness, before he crashed through a large glass window and landed on the floor. He could feel the cuts and several shards of glass jutting from hi body. But he didn't care. He had failed the League, and he failed his knew friends. Before he passed out, he thought only one thing. The League was right. He was no hero.

* * *

She was still wondering what had happened to her as she stood on wobbly legs. She had caught only a glimpse of that – that thing before – before she was – lying in the back end of a bus? The thing had attacked her so fast, it was incredible. When she heard the several screams, she saw what had happened. Fire and Stewart were down, but where was Booster? Then she noticed the people that were gathered around a pharmacy as Doomsday started ripping apart several cars that were in his way. When she x-rayed the store, she couldn't believe what she saw. She didn't even know if he was breathing.

She tore her gaze away when she heard something explode, and saw that Doomsday had flung a car through another store front. The car had ignited and had injured who knew how many, or even killed. The monster just laughed at everything. Every little ounce of fear and terror was giving him amusement. Without a word, Doomsday had hunched down and launched himself high into the air. He looked like was going to clear several miles within a matter of moments. Superwoman wanted to stay here and help these people, but she knew that she had to go after Doomsday. If she didn't try to stop him, who knows what he would do next. No, there was no way she was going to let that thing get away!

She launched herself into the air and poured on her speed to catch up to Doomsday. She could hear all the screams of the people she had left behind clearly in her ears as she pursued their attacker. She was gritting her teeth and doing her best not to listen, but they were all still there. It was tearing her heart out to ignore them, but she had to stop this damned monster from killing anyone else.

"J'onn?"

"_I'm here, Superwoman."_

"The other three are,"

"_I'm well aware. Emergency crews are on their way."_

"J'onn, I need you to read this thing's mind for me. I need to know why he's doing this." Superwoman said to him.

"_Give me a moment to track your location. My readings show that you're moving. Can the creature fly?"_

"No, it leapt. He's starting to fall back down now. J'onn, please tell me what's going on in his head." Superwoman said, but was rewarded with nothing but silence. "J'onn?"

"_There's nothing in his mind, Superwoman. Nothing but boundless rage and anger. He wants revenge."_

"For what?"

"_For being created."_

"Then I've got to take this bastard down!" Superwoman said to herself and poured on the speed and aimed her balled fists at the creature.

Superwoman landed both of her fists in the middle of Doomsday's back, driving increasing his speed and screwing up the angle of his decent. Both her and Doomsday plowed into the middle of open land, plowing up large amounts of dirt and grass before they came to a stop. Not giving him a chance to get up, Superwoman grasped him firmly by his ankle and began to spin. The faster she spun both her and Doomsday in a circle, the lighter he became until she let him go and sent him hurtling into the air. Immediately, she took to the air to follow him.

* * *

"_Our on-going news coverage continues on the rampage of the creature being called Doomsday. Moments earlier, Metropolis' own Superwoman joined three members of the Justice League to try and stop the creature. As of only minutes ago, the three members of the Justice League have all been hospitalized with the hero known as Booster Gold listed in critical condition. He's not expected to survive. We'll have more news on the location of Doomsday and Superwoman once we gain further details."_ The anchor man said while Anne and Kal sat and watched.

"Do you think she can stop him?" Kal asked his surrogate mother.

"I hope so." Anne said as she couldn't believe everything she was seeing on the news.

"Maybe I can go and help. I'm a Kryptonian as well, and maybe I,"

"No you won't." Anne said to him.

"But,"

"No buts about it. You haven't learned how to control your powers yet, and you don't have all of yours yet." Anne said to him.

"But Kara,"

"Kal, no. Kim has been through worst situations then this when she was in Middle School. She'll be fine." _"I hope."_ Anne thought as she turned her eyes back to the television set. Jim and Tim had called not too long ago, and knew they were on their way home. It would be nice to have her boys home, but she was worried sick about her daughter. She didn't care how many powers she had, that was still her baby out there.

* * *

Kim didn't realize how far she had flung Doomsday until she tried to chase him again. The good part was he couldn't control his decent or his trajectory. The bad part was that he couldn't control his decent. That meant if he landed in a residential area, or a heavily populated commercial area, there was going to be trouble on an unimaginable scale. She had let her temper get the best of her for what he had done to not just Monique, but to all those other people as well. That's why it was so important to stop him. If she didn't know any better, she could almost swear he was a living War Machine.

"Mind if we tag along?"

Superwoman glanced to her left and right and saw two other League members were flying right alongside her. To her left was none other than J'onn himself, determined as she was to stop the monster's rampage. To her right was the living robot, Red Tornado. She didn't know if the robot could be much help, but J'onn was practically a Superman in his own right.

"Can you take him?" Superwoman asked him.

"If you keep him distracted, I may be able to grab him and penetrate his mind. From there, I should be able to stop him." J'onn said.

"Red, you and I just volunteered to keep tall, big, and ugly busy." She said.

"Understood. But you did not need to give me his description. I had read all the data and observed all footage the Watchtower had gathered about him." The android said as they saw where the creature was going to land.

"What is this place?" Red Tornado asked.

Below them was an entire area that at first glance looked like a forest. But it was actually an entire structure that had been _grown_ out of trees. A very strange, and almost perverted, combination of Mother Nature and modern technology that was actually inside the strange creations.

"I have no idea. J'onn?" Superwoman asked.

"It's called Habitat. We're directly over Project Cadmus."

* * *

Doomsday crashed through the wood and steel technological creation like a cannon ball plowing through plywood. Not even the advanced metal that grew inside the trees could withstand the brunt force as the monster fell wildly until he finally crashed into the ground, making the whole area tremble. No sooner than he landed, several highly advanced weapon turrets rose from the ground and open fired.

Each weapon fired an intense concentrated beam of energy that tried to burn away the monster's flesh. In a matter of moments, the monster smashed and crushed each turret that had opened fired on him, with only steam rising from where they had been firing. However, his attention was drawn when he heard something land behind him. What he saw was a strange looking red man with a blue cape. It didn't matter. Soon, this man would be joining the growing pile of scrap that was around him. As Doomsday began to charge the red hero, the man raised both of his hands towards him, and let loose a powerful gust of wind that sent Doomsday into the air once again.

The monster couldn't clearly see everything as he tumbled through the ir, but it knew he wasn't that high like he had been. As he still tumbled, something caught its eye. Something else with a blue cape, and something green. Doomsday's flight was stopped as J'onn morphed into a strange snake like beast, and wrapped itself around Doomsday tightly and began to squeeze. J'onn could feel it fighting him, and it's strength was incredible. It was unlike anything J'onn had ever encountered or even knew about. He wouldn't be able to hold this for long.

"SUPERWOMAN, NOW!" J'onn shouted as he felt himself loosing his hold on Doomsday.

J'onn let the monster go and let himself fall back towards the ground as Superwoman flew in. In her hands was a large chunk of the broken trees, and used it as a baseball bat and hit Doomsday with it. The force of the impact sent Doomsday deep into the ground as well as shattering the tree and technology inside of it as soon as it had made impact. Red Tornado was over the hole Doomsday had created, and was sending a full blast of gale force wind down into the hole to drive him deeper and to keep him at bay. J'onn and Superwoman quickly found the largest tree that grew in habitat, and began to remove it. Superwoman severed the joining connections to it with her heat vision while J'onn began to pull it free from the ground. Superwoman quickly helped him lift the giant tree trunk into the air and aimed it toward the hole Doomsday was in. Red Tornado moved aside as Kim and J'onn used their combined strength and speed to drive the tree deeper into the ground and drive the monster further and deeper.

Over seventy percent of the large tree was now in the ground, with the three heroes gathered around it. Kim was out of breath as Red Tornado looked at it.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Paul Westfield bellowed at his second in command, Amanda Waller.

"I'm trying to find out now!" she bellowed from the war room of Cadmus as the entire complex shook violently as panels from the ceiling and walls began to become dislodged and fall all around Cadmus' entire staff. Within minutes, she was reading read outs from sensors, video from various cameras, and damage reports that were coming in from every branch of Cadmus's underground HQ.

"Something's attacking Habitat! Over forty percent of the complex has been demolished!" Waller reported.

"Demolished? BY WHAT?!" Westfield shouted.

"Unknown. However, I am detecting two other bio signs, and one machine. It's the two aliens and the android from the Justice League."

"Could they be the attackers?"

"Possibly." She said.

"I don't have time for possibly, Waller. Cadmus is coming down around our ears. ARE THEY ATTACKING US OR NOT?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" she shouted back at Westfield. She had a strong urge to pummel that jackass most of the time she talked to him.

"Then launch the counter measure."

"Sir,"

"We can't risk loosing Cadmus, Waller. What we have here is too important. Launch the counter measure!" Westfield said to her.

"Yes, sir." Waller said as she looked down at her console, and pressed the red button she prayed she would never have to use. "God, be with them." She said to her self.

* * *

"Query. Why does this creature do this?"

"I wish I knew." Kim said while J'onn was calling in for help.

"I'm calling in additional support to try and contain the creature. As for your question, Tornado; I may have an answer." J'onn said as he looked at his team mate. "It does this, because it was created to. Its mind is difficult to search, but there are memories. He was created as a weapon, but he was made too well."

"Is he from Earth?" Kim asked J'onn.

"No. I can not clearly see its origins, but I think it was sent here to be imprisoned. It's been on Earth since before the birth of Christ." J'onn said.

"Impressive." Red Tornado said. "I wonder which race – AKKK!" the android shouted as Doomsday's massive arm shot out from the ground jutted through the android's chest.

Doomsday burst from the ground with a deafening roar of pure rage as he grasped the android with his other hand and ripped him in two. Doomsday flung his torso into the air where it bounced off one of the trees before exploding while the other sent skidding across the dirt.

"J'ONN, LOOK-"

Doomsday's fist was plan ted firmly in her ribs while his right elbow bashed J'onn in the side of his head. Doomsday kicked Kim in the chin, sending her flying into the debris while Doomsday spun and brought both hands on top of J'onn's head. Doomsday was relentless in his onslaught as he kept bashing J'onn with each crippling blow. J'onn couldn't think, couldn't see, and couldn't react. His whole body had become pain as the creature kept attacking him relentlessly. Doomsday stomped on J'onn's left knee, causing the lower half of his leg shatter and collapse in on itself .

As J'onn howled in pain, Doomsday brought both spikes downward and pierced through the Martian's back with both points jutting out of his chest. The punishment continued as the monster kept bashing J'onn in the stomach, using the flat area of his bone spikes on his knees to drive his elbow spikes even deeper into the alien.

"NO! NO, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kim screamed as she blew through the rubble like it was a pile of tooth picks as her eyes were nothing but pure blazing energy.

In one glance, she severed the bone spikes that came from the monsters elbows, and smiled as the monster howled in pain. The monster now set his vision on Kim as his red eyes boiled with pure rage and unchained hate towards the woman before him. He didn't know why, but every cell in his body wanted to smash her until there was nothing left.

"You want me, ugly? Then come and get me." She growled.

Both titans charged each other with their fists tightly clinched. Their fists collided with each other with such force that it actually shook the very ground. Kim ducked a wild swing and jabbed Doomsday in his abdomen as hard as she could before placing a hard uppercut to his chin. She could feel the bone protrusions cut and pierce the skin of her hand as she felt chunks of the bone break from her blow. The beast stepped backwards as he grasped where she hit her and growled in fury. Not giving him a chance to let up, she brought both of her elbows down hard onto his shoulders, and could hear the thick bone begin to crack.

With a roar, Doomsday grasped her by her feet and swung her into the ground as hard as he could. Again and again he slammed her, wanting to make her pay and suffer for what she had just done to him. Roaring even louder than ever, he swung her against the trunk of another tree, bringing the tree down throwing her to the ground. She was face down in the dirt as he began to slam his foot in between her shoulder blades. He hated her with all his being and wanted to crush her. He didn't know why and he didn't care. He was actually drooling as he kept stomping his foot onto her back and shoulders. But why wasn't she dead like the others? As his foot came down for what was supposed to be a death blow, Kim rolled out of the way as the foot dug into the dirt. Using her opening, she swiftly jutted her arm upward and grabbed Doomsday in between his legs. Doomsday actually looked down with a look of surprise as Kim grasped him down below and began to squeeze as hard as she could. The monster actually began to groan in pain as she increased the preassure.

"Now I've got you." Kim growled as she stood, and picked Doomsday up swiftly while never letting go of her hold on him and slammed him into the dirt head first. Doomsday was struggling to try and free his head while Kim brought down both of her hands in a swift and hard axe handle blow and hit him in between the legs again. Doomsday seemed to freeze as his limbs slightly shook from the new sensation of pain he had never felt before.

Kim was about to deliver another blow when she heard something. It was a strange beeping and a series of circuits coming to life. But it was coming from beneath them. Using her x-ray vision, Kim was able to see through the various layers of soil, rock and strange devices. She found the source of the sounds, and her eyes widened in horror as she saw what it was.

"A bomb." She whispered to herself. As fast as she could, Kim sped away from Doomsday and swooped J'onn in her arms and began to try and gain distance from Habitat as she flew upward.

"W-what's – w-wrong?" J'onn asked weekly.

"I don't who set it off, but there's a bo-"

The giant explosion erupted in a blinding flash of, sending a massive shockwave of heat and raw power that demolished everything around it within a fifty mile radius. The force of the explosions sent both J'onn and Kim tumbling out of the air and crashing into open terrain. Kim had flown enough distance to evade the worst of the blast, but it had knocked the wind out of her. As she opened her eyes, she found her self covered in mud and grass as she spit loose soil out from her mouth. As she stood, she saw J'onn was laying still not too far from her, with Doomsday's spikes still firmly embedded in him.

"Oh God." She said as she stumbled toward him, and looked at him. He was barley breathing, and in between conscious and unconscious. "I've got to get you to a hospital." She said to him.

"No. E-ear piece." J'onn said to her and pointed to his right ear.

Kim looked, and gently removed the communications device from his ear. Pressing it gently, she opened the emergency link to the Watchtower.

"This is Superwoman. Is anyone reading me?" she asked.

"_This is Mr. Terrific. You're a little fuzzy, but I can read you. We just registered a small nuclear explosion not too far from you. What happened?"_

"I don't have time to explain. J'onn is seriously hurt, maybe dying." She said.

"_Holy crap. Superwoman, put the earpiece back on him and stand back."_ Mr. Terrific said urgently.

Kim placed the earpiece back in his ear and stepped back. Within a matter of seconds, J'onn was surrounded by a strange blue glow before he disappeared. What the hell just happened?

"_Superwoman, do you read me?"_ Mr. Terrific asked, barley coming in on her earpiece.

"What happened to J'onn?"

"_It's a project we've been working on. A teleporter. J'onn made it safely, and he's being taken to the medical bay right now. What's going on out there?"_

"We were fighting Doomsday, and we landed in the middle of a Cadmus project. Doomsday destroyed Red Tornado and did that to J'onn. I got J'onn out of there before the place went nuclear on me." She said to him and looked at the giant mushroom cloud that stood where she and her friend just were. "At least that monster's dead." Kim said to herself.

"_Don't beat on it."_ Mr. Terrific said to her.

"Don't tell me." Kim said as he r eyes widened as she saw something leaping away from the blast zone.

"_I'm tracking it now, Superwoman. The sensors confirm it's a large humanoid. Everything matches the scans we took of it earlier. It's Doomsday."_

"He survived a nuclear blast?" Kim asked in shock.

"_It gets worse. I'm tracking his telemetry and heading. The distance he's covering with those jumps is phenomenal. Unless something stops him soon, he's going to reach Metropolis within an hour. Maybe less."_ Mr. Terrific said to her.

"Over my dead body!" Kim growled and immediately took to the air again. Doomsday was going faster than her and had a big head start. She didn't know how long it would take her, but she was going to stop that thing and put him down!

* * *

Sherri couldn't believe the footage she was seeing on CNN, LexNews, and everything else. The carnage and destruction she was seeing that had been caused was making her ill. How can something do all this for the sheer hell of it? When she first heard about it, she used her moles inside GJ to see if Drakken had done something, but he was still nuttier than squirrel crap and in a straight jacket. She also used her contacts in other genetics labs, but they didn't have anything close to this thing. So what was it, and why was it here? Her blood seemed to turn to ice when she heard several news anchors report that the monster was now on its way to Metropolis.

"Sherri?" Mercy asked as she joined her boss.

"Is the fall out shelter still intact? The underground panic rooms?" Sherri asked her.

"Yes, they're all fully functioning." Mercy said to her.

"Start moving the staff down there now. If anyone has any family still in the city, get them here." Sherri said.

"I – don't understand."

"Mercy, I might be a monster. But I still have part of a heart left. Get everyone down in the panic rooms now. From the looks of it, not even the Justice League can handle this thing." Sherri said.

"At once, Sherri." Mercy said as she turned and left to carry out her boss' orders. As soon as Mercy was gone, a lone figure stepped out of the shadows and stood by Sherri.

"This is serious, isn't it?" the woman asked as she brushed her red hair out of her face.

"Tell me you can take this thing on if and when it comes down to it." Sherri asked the woman beside her.

"Maybe. I wish I was sure, but I'm not." The woman said.

"The you better start getting as much Kryptonite as you can handle. Because right now, all hope lies on Superwoman. And I don't even think she can take that thing on." Sherri said as she watched a repeat of Doomsday fighting the Justice League again, and saw the look of pain on Kim's face. There was no doubt about it. This was the biggest threat Metropolis, or its champion, had ever dealt with or ever seen.


	4. Black Day

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

The sun was beating down on the high steelworkers as they set about to building what was essentially a giant skeleton. Hammering, riveting, and welding the structure to what would be another skyscraper to the vast Metropolis skyline. On the seventeenth floor, looking out at the city before him, sat one construction worker. Despite the beauty he could see at the height he was at, his mind was plagued by other things. As he wiped the sweat away from his bronze skin, he wondered why he was still alive. He was responsible for so many horrible things and so many deaths. He might not have been the one using the weapons that had killed the innocents he had seen laying across that dessert, but their blood was still on his hands. As all these thoughts kept racing through his mind over and over again, he began to look downward at the ground below. But he should just jump and let God decide his fate. He had done nothing but made things worse, and no one would really miss him. Everyone thought he was dead already.

A loud clang of metal caused him to look up, and saw one of his supervisors, Pete Skywalker, above him. The guy was a hard ass when he needed to be, but he was a pretty nice person. It looked like he had knocked over several of his tools, which was pretty odd. He was usually very careful about his tools.

"Hey Pete! Are you all right?" he called up to his co-worker.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine."

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah. I've just been – been pulling a lot of overtime lately." He said as he tried to brace himself against one of the steel girders. He knew Pete had needed some money, but he didn't know they were bad enough for him to pull overtime on the high steel. These shifts could last for awhile if you weren't careful.

"Maybe you should take a break, Pete. You look like something the dog dragged in."

"Naw. I'll be fine." Pete said as he straightened himself up.

As Pete tried to stretch his back, his footing slipped and he began to tip over. Pete was going to fall, that much was obvious. Acting quick, the construction worker grasped the steel cable that was hanging near by and grasped it tightly. With a large leap, he swung out as Pete began to free fall and caught him with his one free arm. He could feel the steel threads of the cable dig into his arm and cut the skin, but he still held onto it tightly. As the cable swung them back towards the building, the worker began making calculations in her head almost as fast as a super computer. Timing it right, the worker let the cable go and soon found himself and Pete landing on the solid surface of the floor.

Both were trying to catch there breath as adrenalin rushed through them and the fear and realization of what had just happened sunk in. The large man lifted his arm and saw the where the flesh had been cut, and saw the stream of blood that was almost coating his arm in blood.

"Pete, are you okay?" he asked as he tried to catch his breath.

"I – I think so. Thanks, Henry." Pete said to him.

"Anytime." He said as he closed his eyes. He kicked himself mentally because he was fixing to ask Pete who Henry was. He forgot that he had changed his name From John Henry Irons to Henry Johnson. It wasn't exactly creative, but it had worked for him.

"Maybe we should get that arm checked out." Pete said as he began to stand up.

"Good idea. Maybe – wait a minute. Do you hear that?" Henry asked Pete.

"Yeah, I do. It sounds like something you hear in those cartoons, before something falls." Pete said as he heard the noise getting louder and quickly.

Without warning, something fell through the sky, falling through several floors they had built before crashing into the dirt. Pete and Henry looked over the side as they heard a horrible, monstrous roar and the sounds of other construction workers screaming in pure terror. What they saw chilled both of them to the core. There stood a man that looked like a monster from a horror movie, destroying everything in its path as it killed anyone near it.

The monster flung a balled fist wildly, tearing into the backs of two construction workers before it landed against the face of another, ripping his head from his shoulders and smashing it into the ground. He then grasped another worker like he was a doll, crushing his bones in his grip before flinging him across the city and into the side of one of Metropolis' older buildings. With another yell the creature leapt a small distance and landed on several other workers that were trying to run as he lifted the large cement truck and flung it into unfinished structure. The attack shook the entire structure, causing Henry to fall onto his back. Henry looked up in horror as the shaking structure made Pete once again loose his balance.

"PETE, NO!" Henry shouted as he tried to leap toward him, but missed the man's outstretched hand by a few centimeters. Henry saw the man fall downward to the ground and closed his eyes tightly when Pete was only a few feet from the ground. With the building still shaking, Henry opened his eyes and saw Pete laying still on the ground with a large dark red pool forming under him in the dirt. Henry looked and saw the monster embed his fist into the chest of another one of his co-workers as the spikes on his other fist slashed open the throat of one of the crane operators that was trying to flee.

As a sneer crossed his face, he saw one of the huge heavy weight sledge hammers that had been left behind. Grasping it firmly, he lifted the large tool like it was a twig and began heading for one of the lifts. He made the machine travel downward as fast as it could go, but he wasn't going to run when it reached the bottom. He had seen what the monstrous machines he had created do to innocents, and now he was seeing a maniac slaughter the people he had grown to know and respect. He didn't care if this thing killed him while he was trying to stop it, but he was going to do his best to cave that thing's head in! The building began to shake again, but worse than before hand. The tremor was so violent, it caused the machine controlling the cables to break and letting the make shift elevator go into a free fall.

He could feel everything starting to pass by him quickly, and knew he wouldn't survive the fall. With a hope and a prayer, Henry leapt from the machine and hit one of the completed floors on his shoulder. But the weight of himself and the hammer, coupled with the speed he had been falling, caused him to fall through the floor, and another and another before he found himself landing in the basement they had dug months earlier. Damn cut backs. Henry coughed a few times as he rotated his soar shoulder and felt his spine pop. He was about to get up when he heard something falling and breaking. He glanced up and saw the basement begin to collapse in on him. He covered his head as he felt various debris fall down on top of him around him. This wasn't fair. It couldn't end like this. There were so many wrongs he hadn't gotten to put right. So many things he wanted to do. He didn't even get to say goodbye to his grandmother or his sister. He didn't even get to say goodbye to his nephew or his niece. Why would God want to take him now when he was finally trying to do something right.

* * *

He had already reached Metropolis, she had been to late to try and turn him away. She could already see the carnage and destruction he had already started in her home, in _her_ city! No! He wasn't going to allow him to do here what he had done everywhere else. THIS ENDS HERE!

"DOOMSDAY!" Kim shouted as loud as she could and landed both her fists into the middle of Doomsday's back.

The speed she had been flying sent both of them into the asphalt of the street and caused them to dig down into several feet beneath it. Crashing through several water pipes, gas mains, and electrical wiring, Both soon found themselves in a very dimly lit tunnel. Kim was trying to get to her feet, but soon found Doomsday's foot colliding with her face and sending her into the wall. She didn't go through it, but left a deep impression. Kim opened her eyes in time, for her to duck the punch the monster threw at her as it went through the wall, giving her time to slam her fists into his hamstrings and causing his legs to buckle. As Kim rose to her full height again, she landed a hard punch in his ribs while giving him another swift uppercut to his chin and shattered the bone that had already gown back half way.

Not giving him any moment to react, she landed a swift right hook to the side of his head before giving him a hard jab into his face and breaking the bones that had formed on the bridge of his nose. Kim was hurling another left hook when Doomsday's callused hand grabbed her fist before it could make contact. With a growl, Doomsday slammed his free hand against the side of Kim's face before shoving his knee into her hip as hard as he could. As Kim reeled from the blow, he backhanded the heroine with a tremendous force that sent her flying backwards. Doomsday brought his fist hammering down on her one more time before she caught it in her hand. She could feel him trying to crush her fist as she tried to crush his. Both were pushing each other, trying to find some way to overpower the other. Not knowing what else to do, Kim slammed her head against his as hard as she could, and could hear the loud crack as she heard several more of his bone fragments break off as she felt blinding white hot pain surge through her head. She forced her head open as she felt something drip down her face, almost in her eyes.

Doomsday was in pain, but he was getting over it faster than she was. She didn't know how she knew, but he was fixing to bash her with his head just as she done to him. Gritting her teeth and focusing her eyes, a blast of heat vision erupted from her eyes, and burned through the bones and the skin, hitting him in the brain! The monster screamed as he let go of Kim's fist and gripped his head in pain. Using her opening, she leapt slamming one powerful after another. With each blow, she was increasing the amount of strength in it try and subdue the monster.

That's when Doomsday bashed her in the face again, sending her bouncing off the wall and into the dirt. She could taste copper on her lips and she could hear Doomsday's groans of pain starting to return to shouts of anger. She had to get on her feet again, quickly. As she propped herself up, she noticed that there were railroad tracks on the ground. She had never bothered to actually look at where they were, but she soon realized they were in a subway tunnel. A tunnel that was obviously still in use as she and Doomsday both saw the lights of a subway train that was coming directly at them. Doomsday saw the strange object coming at them, and didn't even hesitate as he roared and started running at the train. There were countless people on that train, and he wouldn't hesitate in slaughtering all of them. Pushing through the pain, she flew as fast as she could as she put Doomsday in a headlock and dragged him back upwards. Through the asphalt dirt and grime she pulled both her and the monster and into the open air.

She didn't know how she was going to stop Doomsday, she was only with concerned with saving those people on the train at the moment. Doomsday struggled and pulled at Kim's arms to try and break her hold on him, but she would not budge. Not one inch. With a final roar of anger, the monster jerked his arms backwards and felt one of his re-grown elbow spikes sink into warm flesh. Kim cried out as she felt the spike sink into her side. She tried to hold on to him, but the bastard was trying to drive it in deeper! With no choice left, she let the monster go and felt herself fall back to Earth.

Kim crashed through the roof of a high rise that was being completely renovated, crashing all the way down into the floor beneath it. Doomsday crashed through one of the many massive high rises, bringing it down on top of himself and all the people that were still inside the building as a dust cloud swept through the streets. Kim was coughing and in serious pain as she pushed through the small amount of debris off of her. She could still hear the screams of all the people that were scared, and she could hear that son of a bitch. He was murdering the people she had sworn to protect, and she was lying in a basement and letting herself bleed. She was tired and she hurt, but she had to push all that out of her mind right now. Everyone needed her. J'onn was down, maybe dead. Several members of the League were in the hospital and so many already dead. Everyone was counting on her.

As Kim held a hand against the wound in her side, she was able to find a mirror. She had a gash in her forehead which had caused blood to run all down part of her face. She had three deep slashes across the right side of her face, and several other smaller cuts and a few small bruises. She looked down and saw where her hand was covering the new wound. Blood was running down her fingers and she knew she needed to seal it closed. Closing her eyes, she slid her fingers underneath the fabric where the hole was and ripped her uniform open. She opened her eyes and x-rayed the wound, and was relieved to see Doomsday hadn't hit and organs or arteries. Looking quickly, she found what was left of a steel pipe and placed in her mouth. She turned back to her reflection and focused her heat vision. The beams bounced of the reflective surface and onto the wound. Kim was crying out in pain as she forced her eyes to stay open and bit down on the pipe. She could smell burning flesh as she continued and her cries grew worse. Finally, the wound was closed and she dropped the pipe out of her mouth and spat out the piece she had bitten off. She gave herself one more scan before she stopped and felt her jaw clinch.

As she stood to her feet, she used the cape that still hung from her shoulders to wipe away the blood that was in her face before she looked back to the hole she had come through. With one leap, she flew out of the hole, and basked in the rays of the sun. She could already feel herself recharge and her wounds starting to mend. She looked down and saw the monster as he ripped apart cars and threw them in various places. So much had been destroyed in the few minutes she had tried to patch herself up. Well, that ends here and now! Speeding down to the street, faster than a speeding bullet, Kim balled her fists and gritted her teeth as she flew in close and lifted him into the air again like he was a sack of wet concrete. With all her might, she flung the monster through the ground floors of two skyscrapers before he crashed to a stop.

Doomsday stood to his feet, and stopped as soon as he saw Kim. The rage within the beast was so great, you could see his arms trembling as he tightened his fists once more. His eyes were squinted and his veins throbbed as his muscles tightened. This creature pissed him off beyond any comprehension, and he hated her for it. This thing was going to die today. And he made sure every creature around him knew this as he roared with all his might.

"Come on. Come on, you gruesome son of a bitch. Come and get me." Kim growled to herself.

With another roar, Doomsday began to charge with his teeth bared and his fists ready to go in for the kill. He was an unstoppable force, and she was an immovable object.

"Come on, hit me. Hit me!" she taunted at the monster as she felt her own anger boil. "Hit me! HIT ME!" she shouted as something within her mind snapped as she glared daggers at the murderer. He was almost on top of her, and she wanted him to try and knock her down. **"HIT ME! HIT ME! HIT ME YOU UGLY MOTHER F#$*ER!"** Right there, Kim had decided that this was now war. From now on, she wasn't going to hold anything back. If this wanted her to fight, she would unleash hell. "Behold the pale horse. The rider that sat on him was death." Kim said to herself as she watched and timed the monster. "And hell followed with him."

With all her speed, she charged Doomsday as his fists were ready to crush her. With both screaming with primal rage the world hadn't seen since the days of the dinosaurs, both brought their fists downward toward each other. Both of their fists collided together with such tremendous forth that the shockwave that came from the impact shattered the windows for five city blocks all around. In the shower of glass, Kim was using all her might and every single style of martial arts to try and take this bastard down while he attacked her with nothing but brute force and wanton rage. IT was a battle of the Titans that was shaking the very city. It was now an all out war, and Metropolis was now caught in the crossfire.

**

* * *

**

Cairo, Egypt

He was close now, he knew it. It had taken him several weeks, but he had finally found him. He thought this man had already died once, but it turned out he had been wrong. He couldn't believe it when he learned who this man really was at first, but now he knew. After all these years, it was time to bring this man to Justice. He had tracked him across half the world, and all the clues had pointed to here. The ruins to a strange ancient cavern in Egypt that had been there since the time Moses had confronted the Pharaoh about his people. As he ventured further into the cavern, he saw that the walls had been smoothed. Man made halls and doorways, along with writing that ranged from Hieroglyphics to Ancient Greek. It was almost as if the entire cavern was an ancient time capsule. But despite what he was seeing before him, only one question plagued his mind. Where could he be hiding?

"Looking for something, Detective?" a smooth, deep voice asked. The solitary figure slowly turned and saw one lone light come to life and reveal the man who he had been looking for. The man's hark hair had been slicked back, with a trim goatee and a styled pencil thin mustache. His clothes were costumed made, resembling that of royalty. A dark green cloak hung from his shoulders as he watched the detective with those jade green with his hands resting on the armrests of the elaborate chair he sat in. By his side was a small table with a steaming cup of tea. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" he asked.

"Not long enough, Ra's." Batman growled as he stepped closer to the older man, letting his long black cape cover himself.

"I see you took my suggestions of theatricality quite literally." Ra's said as he sipped his tea. "Care for some tea?"

"No, thank you." Batman growled.

"Very well. I see you never forgot your manners." Ra's said as he finished his tea and stood to his full height. "May I ask, why you decided to pay me a visit?"

"You know why. Where is she?" he asked.

"Safe, as she always was. I can guarantee you that much." Ra's said.

"I don't have any reason to trust you."

"She is safe, and she is where she is needed."

"Needed? Is that why you kidnapped her from her home? Why you almost had Master Sensei killed?"

"The altercation. I do apologize for that much. I have already delivered the appropriate punishment to the one who disobeyed." Ra's said as he saw the Batman's frown deepen into a scowl. "I see you remember how we dealt punishment."

"That was a long time ago."

"I remember. You were my best student, Stoppable. You were so lost when I found you. I helped give you a path to follow in life, and you repaid me by destroying my home."

"What you did was lie to me about who you were and tried to make me one of your assassins. Your idea of justice was murder."

"Don't be too quick to judge, Stoppable. You forget that I have lived for a very long time. In that time, I have seen the world sink deeper into a system of corruption and injustice. I was merely trying to use the best method for restoring balance to the world."

"Times have changed. What was right then doesn't mean that it's right now. You've murdered innocent people for your insane cause, and I'm not going to let you do it again." Batman growled as he lowered his hand to his belt, ready to grasp the batarangs that were kept there.

"I have trained members of the League of Shadows for years. All you did was force us to relocate." Ra's said.

"But why did you take Yori?" Batman asked.

"To help clarify your thinking, my men were not sent to kidnap her. They were escorting her away from the school after she contacted us requested to join the League."

"YOU LIE!"

"Am I? My heart rate is normal, my breathing is calm, and I'm not sweating; despite the heat. I'm telling you the truth, Detective. Yori willingly joined the League of her own free will." Ra's said. But it would seem that the masked man in front of him refused to believe anything he had just said to him.

"I'm taking her back to Japan, one way or another." Batman said as he assumed a fighting stance.

"As much as I'd love to see if the student is now the master, I must decline. You have matured greatly since your training under my wing, Stoppable. But sadly, like then, you don't always mind your surroundings." Ra's said as a giant flat screen behind him in the darkness came to life. "While you have been trying to follow me, something dire has a risen in the city of your beloved." Ra's said as news footage of Kim fighting Doomsday began to be displayed.

On the monitor in front of him, both Ra's and Ron saw Kim fighting the horrible monster. She was cut and bleeding in several places. Her uniform and her cape was torn and ripped. She was out of breath, exhausted. And even though she was giving this fight everything she had, she was taking a very serious beating. The buildings around him had been severely damaged or destroyed, and the streets were hardly recognizable. A loud gasp escaped Batman's throat as he saw Kim being punched so hard that it sent her barreling into a building that was blocking the camera's view. Within moments, Kim was sent flying out through the roof and further down the street. Following her was the monster she was fighting as the building that had emerged from crumbled to the ground.

"KP." Batman gasped.

"Go to her, Detective. Your place is not here, but with her." Ra's said to his former student. "Detective?" he asked as he turned, and saw no one there. A deep breath escaped from Ra's as he looked at the spot where his former pupil had just been standing. In all his years of life, he had known the pain of loosing one you truly loved. He just prayed this wouldn't happen to him.

"Should I follow him, father?" a voice in the shadows behind him asked.

"No, daughter. Leave him be, and wait. You will know when to search him out." Ra's said as he began to exit his safe house.

* * *

Ron was already in the wing and soaring it into the atmosphere before the canopy had been sealed. All the systems were online and he had the coordinates for Metropolis already programmed into the auto-pilot. He couldn't believe himself. He had been so occupied with trying to find Ra's Al Guhl, he forgot to keep an open ear to where he may have been needed elsewhere. And now it looked like Kim was in major trouble.

"_RON! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CONATACT YOU FOR HOURS! KIM'S,"_

"I know, Wade. I'm on my way to Metropolis now. How bad is the situation?" Ron asked.

"_Grim. Lantern, Ice, and Booster have been hospitalized for severe injuries, Red Tornado's been destroyed, and J'onn is in critical condition."_

"What about Kim?"

"_She's been fighting it for a while, but I don't know how much more she can take. Parts of Metropolis are starting to look a scene from Saving Private Ryan."_

"I have to get there. Tell the League I'm on my way." Ron growled.

"_Ron, you're on the other side of the world! You won't get there in time!"_

"Not unless I crank the wing to full throttle and take out the limiter." Ron said as he tore open a console on his right side, and ripped out several small circuit boards, including a few circuits that were still attached to it. Instantly, he felt the wing accelerate to Mach three as the momentum pushed him into his seat.

"_ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY?! SHE'LL FLY APART WITHOUT THE LIMITER!"_

"THEN I'LL FLY HER APART!" Ron shouted and ended his transmission with Wade. Kim needed him, and nothing was going to get in his way to help her. Even if he had to travel all the way into hell and back for her. Nothing was going to keep him away from her side.

* * *

The punch echoed like a cannon blast as Kim spiraled in the air and hit the ground, cracking the concrete as she landed. Doomsday was running towards her again, she could feel the vibrations in the ground. She forced herself to her feet, despite that her whole body was screaming for her to stay down. She grasped the small Neon that was in front of her by the bumper and bashed Doomsday in the head with it before shoving the car into its gut and kept pushing. She plowed the monster through four buildings before shoving him into the ground and bashed him with the car over and over until the car began to fall apart in her hands like a lego set. Doomsday wasn't even phased belted her with a left hook and a right cross before bashing her in the ribs with a hard left. Kim blocked his forearm as he swung again and bashed him in the mouth.

She planted her fist as hard as she could into the center of the bone formation that was in his chest and actually broke part of the bone shield and sent it sinking into his chest. Doomsday actually fell backwards with a roar from the blow as he clutched his chest. Kim could actually see the chunks of bone sticking out of her fist like needles from a cactus. With gritted teeth, she yanked every fragment out as Doomsday wallowed in pain. The sun may still be fueling her powers and ability to heal quickly, but she was feeling more and more drained every time she pushed herself. It wasn't familiar with the sensations of pain, and was confusing it every time he felt it. But with every surge of pain, his anger was fueled like a blast furnace as he roared again with the unquenchable thirst for revenge. Doomsday kicked Kim in the chest as hard as he could and sent her flying through several riot vans and ambulances like a bullet out of a gun.

She was lying on the ground as she gasped for breath. She couldn't swear to it, but she thought several of her ribs had just been broken by that kick. She was tires, bleeding, and bruised. She had never pushed herself this hard. Not even when she used to fight Shego in her younger years. She hadn't even tried to raise her self up or turn herself over before Doomsday's fist slammed against her face. Again, and again the monster pounded on her; cutting open her flesh and actually cracking her check bones and jaw. Then, it stopped. Why had it stopped? Averting her eyes upward, she saw that several new choppers were over the scene. There were choppers for WLEX News, GBS, The Chronicle, and even The Daily Planet. That's what made her gasp as she realized why he had stopped. The Daily Planet had dove in for a closer look at their fight, and it had caught Doomsday's attention. What was worse, Lois and Jimmy were in it!

With a growl of frustration, Doomsday stopped over and picked Kim up as if she were a broken rag doll. With one yell, he threw Kim _tinto_ the chopper and slamming into the rotor blades and breaking them off the chopper as if they were twigs!

"HOLY CRAP! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Jimmy shouted as the chopper was rocked.

"We've been hit! We're going down!" the pilot shouted as the warning buzzers and lights sounded while the helicopter began to pitch and go into a free fall.

As soon as it began to fall, the chopper righted itself and began to slowly glide itself to the ground. All three occupants looked at each other in confusion as they were approaching the ground slowly.

"Did we get the engine back?" Lois asked him.

"According to the instruments, the engine's gone. Even with it, this thing could never land like this." The pilot said.

As soon as the chopper touched ground, everyone pilled out to see how bad the helicopter had been damaged. What they all saw made them stop dead in their tracks as Lois gasped in shock. Superwoman was leaning against the chopper trying to catch her breath. There were three deep slashes on the right side of her face that were still bleeding, several smaller cuts o her face and part of the left side of her face was starting to swell slightly. Half of her face had blood streaked all over it from what looked to be a gash in her scalp and she also had a nasty fat lip. Her uniform was in ruins, with several tears of various sizes all over it that exposed either bruised skin or open wounds and. One side had been torn open to reveal a crudely sealed stab wound in her side with her hands covered in gashes, flesh wounds, and scratches. Her cape was ripped and torn in several places and looked like it was barley hanging on to her.

"Gotta – gotta – gotta stop – I've got to stop Doomsday." She said in between heavy breaths.

"Like hell you are! You've got get to a hospital." Lois said as she threw Superwoman's arm over her shoulders and tried to help her walk.

"No – I can't. Only one – that can stop him." Superwoman said, doing her best to stay awake.

"Kim, come on! You're hurt. Badly." Lois whispered to her so no one else would hear her. "You need help. Let your friends in the Justice League take care of it."

"No, Lois. He's already – almost killed several of them. May have killed them." Superwoman said and stumbled to her knees.

"Kim, please. Don't do this." Lois said as she watched her best friend fight through her injuries. Tears were forming in her eyes as she watched Kim stand back on her feet, even though it was obvious how much it was hurting her to do so.

"Lois, I have to stop him. He's already hurt too many." Kim said to her as she popped her neck. "You're a great friend, Lois. I wanted you as my Maid of Honor at my wedding." Kim said with a bitter sweet smile.

"Don't you dare start talking like that, Middleton. Do you hear me?" Lois said to her.

"If I don't make it, tell Ron I love him. With all my heart." Kim said as she took a deep breath and flew at Doomsday at full speed, causing debris and cars to be kicked up in her wake.

With all the strength she had left in her entire and body and will, Kim hit Doomsday in the back of his head with the impact echoing throughout the city. As the monster stumbled in a dazed stupor, Kim reached back as far as she could and shoved her fist into the middle of his back and lifted him off the ground as she did so and twisted her fist for good measure. Doomsday immediately turned to bash her head in, but his arm was stopped by her left hand as she punched him in the bicep with a forceful uppercut before shoving her elbow as forceful and hard as she could into his armpit. The behemoth groaned from the pain she managed to inflict, and bashed her in the face with his head. Kim fell once more as she felt the new sensation pain flood her nervous system. She forced her self up again, biting back the pain as she grabbed another car in front of her and bashed Doomsday across the face with it. As soon as Doomsday looked at her, Kim bashed him across the face again. Using the vehicle as a flail, she kept hammering Doomsday across every part of his body. Across his chest, his face, his legs, anywhere. When Kim saw that Doomsday was actually starting to fumble as he moved, she increased the speed of her attacks and began bashing him on top of the head like she were trying to drive him into the ground like a hammer. She wasn't using any of her fighting techniques or even trying to set up a plan of attack. It was pure adrenalin driving her as she was doing her best top beat the living shit out of the monster before her.

Doomsday surprised her though as she forced his away through one attack and punched her in her left shoulder as hard as he could, sinking the bone spikes on his hand deep into her flesh and cracking the bones as Kim screamed in utter pain. The monster was laughing as he watched scream in pain as he tried to shove the spikes even further into her. Breathing hard and letting out a scream of her own, Kim dropped the car she had been using as a weapon and bashed her hand against and through one of the bone spikes that jutted from Doomsday's knees. The impact shattered the bone formation and broke off the large spike that had grown, causing Doomsday to reel back and scream in pain as he fell to one knee. Not letting her opening slip away, Kim grasped the broken spike as tightly as she could and jammed it into his ribs as hard as she could, piercing his flesh and breaking his bones as she did so. A sadistic smile spread on Kim's face as she heard the monster bellow in pain as his black blood began to flow out from his new wound. The roars of pain continued as she shoved the spike further and twisted it, opening the wound more. Doomsday backhanded Kim as hard as he could to make her stop, and screamed as the spike came out from his ribs as Kim fell and still held onto it tightly. Kim fell to her knees, but she was still hurting. Doomsday launched what would have been a killing haymaker at Kim with his right fist before Kim blocked it with her hand and shoved the spike all the way through his forearm, and jerked the spike forward and smiled as she heard his arm snap with a clean break. Forcing all her strength once again, Kim launched herself upwards and bashed Doomsday in the face with an uppercut that sounded more like a sonic boom and sent Doomsday onto his back.

"HELL YEAH! THIS IS BETTER THAN ROCKY!" Jimmy shouted as he saw Metropolis's guardian knock the monster down, causing the crowd to cheer along with him.

Across the roof tops, miles away from the fight, the Dark Knight was running as fast as he could to try and get to the fight. The wing was a smoking ruin on the outskirts of town, but he had ejected before it crash landed. Now he was trying to reach the fight in order to help the love of his life. He knew what it had done to his fellow heroes, and he didn't care. This monster would know never to screw with a master of Monkey Kung Fu, and the terror of Gotham's streets.

Kim was trying to gain a breath as she spat blood from her mouth. She didn't see Doomsday moving from that last blow. Maybe she had taken this bastard down for the count. But she couldn't be careful. She didn't know what-

Pain flooded her stomach and her abdomen as Doomsday sat up and punched her with an uppercut that was more powerful than the one she had just given him. Again he punched her with his broken arm, lifting her off the ground. Another blow struck her, and then another with each one lifting her higher and higher off of the ground. Lois kept closing her eyes with each blow and tears fell down her face. One felt odd though; warmer than the rest. When she wiped it away, she saw she was wiping away blood. _Kim's_ _blood._ She looked back in pure horror as she saw Kim fall to her knees and vomit up a pool of pure crimson onto the streets. Everyone there was frozen with disbelief. This monster was killing the one person they thought could never be beaten. Kim was in complete pain in every part of her body, and it felt like her brain was now mud. She couldn't even think as she sobbed from the pain she was feeling all over. She looked up and saw Doomsday reaching his broken arm back to deliver the final blow, when something caught their ears. Everyone heard it. It was crying.

Doomsday looked behind himself as everyone saw that a small child, a little girl, had wondered into the battle zone while trying to find her family. Doomsday ignored Kim and began walking toward the crying child. Kim's mind was suddenly alert again as she saw the monster stomping toward the child.

"No. NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Kim shouted at the monster, but he ignored her.

"GET HER OUT OF THERE! SOMEONE GET HER OUT OF THERE! Lois screamed as were so many others in the crowd.

The crying child looked up at the large shadow that had fallen over her, and saw Doomsday glaring at her with his blood red eyes. A hideous sneer appeared on the monster's jagged and grotesque face. It was as if the very sight of the child and the sound of her crying were disgusting it to its very core. And he only had one response to anything that disgusted it. Both of its fists were balled tightly as it began to growl at the small child in front of her. The child began to crying more loudly as the monster's growling became enraged screaming as it lifted both of its fists into the air to silence the child forever. Holding its arms into pace, Kim placed the monster into a full nelson hold and forced herself to skyrocket upwards as hard and fast as she could, causing a crater to form in the place where both had once stood.

Doomsday was angry beyond belief as he continued to scream and yell with all of its might. It kept trying to swing and jab its arm backwards, trying to pierce Kim's hide once more time. But no matter how hard the monster tried, he couldn't find her body. Kim learned from her mistakes. Even as tired and as in much pain she was in, she was pressing herself close to Doomsday as she held onto him tightly. His elbow spikes were scratching against her skin, tearing skin and drawing blood as he tried to stop her. But she wasn't going to let go, not this time. She had had enough of this barbaric son of a bitch. If this wouldn't stop him, nothing would. But she doubted it. Every weapon and armor had a chink in it, and she was going to try and either find or make one in this thing. Higher and higher they soared, far above the city and into the sky. They were passing through the clouds, and were soon far above even them. She could feel the ice forming all over them as they traveled higher, and the atmosphere was getting thin. Kim just sucked in as much air as she could and held her breath as Doomsday struggled even more.

They were finally free of gravity's hold on them, and into the vastness of space, but she still traveled onward. She wanted to make sure that this plan of her worked, and she needed distance in order to do that. They were seven miles out of the atmosphere of Earth when she let go and flew onward to gain speed. Doomsday floated there for moments, and couldn't understand where he was. He couldn't stand, couldn't walk, he couldn't feel anything around him except cold. He couldn't even breathe. But he saw something coming at him. Something that was going very, very fast. Once more, Doomsday was struck by something hard that was sending him back down into the planet below him. It was the capped woman he had been fighting! He was trying to hit her or kick her, but he couldn't. They were going too fast for him to even try and move. Their speed kept increasing as gravity once again held a firm grasp on them and the heat of re-entry engulfed them in an intense heat and inferno. Faster and faster they went. For once, in its entire existence, this creature felt an emotion it had never known in its memory. Fear.

Everyone had been watching as Kim had taken Doomsday up into the sky. Even the capped crusader as he stood on the roof top of a building that overlooked their battlefield had seen what she had done with the monster she had been fighting. They were no longer in sight; they hadn't been for minutes now. But everyone was still looking, trying to find them. Where had they gone? What was she going to do with him? That's when Batman saw it, and then others. It was a fireball falling from out of the sky. There was a trail of smoke trailing it as it began to head straight toward Centennial park in the heart of Metropolis. Everyone saw as it fell downward and onward, until it finally crashed. The shockwave that followed blew through Metropolis, feeling like a massive hurricane had just touched down in Metropolis and sent various debris flying in every direction away from where the fireball had crashed.

"Kim." The Batman whispered when the shockwave stopped and immediately headed to the crash site.

Few people were walking towards the crater as smoke rose from it, and dust flew about it that created an almost unearthly fog. Those that were walking toward the massive crater stopped when they saw the figure of the Dark Knight land in front of them and begin to walk forward. The dust began to clear, and what lay beneath the dust and debris was beginning to be visible. The crater itself was massive in its size. The park simply wasn't there anymore. Batman thanked his blessings that the park was being renovated and had been closed off. One thing that had become clearly visible was a pipe that was jutting out of the ground, with Superwoman's tattered cape flapping in the wind against it like a battle scarred flag. In the center of the crater, laying in a twisted and unnatural position, was the monster Doomsday. From this distance, no one could tell if it was alive or dead. Using the machinery that lined his cowl, the sensors couldn't detect any signs of life. And it's eyes were no longer blood red with black slits for iris', but normal blue eyes that were rolled in the back of its head.

But where was Superwoman? She was no where to be seen within the crater. Even the crowd that was gathering behind him were asking amongst themselves where she was. The question was soon answered as she stepped out from the edge of the crater and onto what was left of the street. She was dazed, almost like she was in a trance. She was beaten and bloody, but alive. As soon as she saw the Batman standing before her, a small smile appeared on her exhausted face.

"KP." He whispered as finally saw how bad of shape she was in.

"Ron." She whispered and began to collapse backwards.

Batman was by her side in a heartbeat, catching her in his arms and holding her close. He held her tightly in his arms, almost as if he was trying to protect from everything around her. His lover, his friend, and his hero was going through the nightmare he had dreamed and feared ever since they were children. This was the one thing he had always prayed wouldn't happen to her.

"I'm here, Superwoman. I'm here." he said to her as he stroked her face.

"Doomsday. Is he – is he?" she gasped as she shuddered and coughed up a small amount of blood from her mouth.

"He's dead. You did it, you stopped him. You saved everyone." He said to her as he held her closer and smiled as she gave a small laugh.

"That's what I was here for." She said and began to have trouble breathing, gasping for more air.

"Don't try to move. Help will be here soon. This time, it's our turn to take care of you." He said to her as she continued to gasp for air. "Kim, don't this. Please." He begged her to where only she could hear him.

"I love you, Ron. I always have." She said as tears began to trail down her face.

"Don't you dare say goodbye to me. I love you too much for you to give up now. KP, please don't. I can't save without you. I can't live without you." He pleaded with her.

"Ron. R-Ron." She gasped and pulled herself upward. She held his face in her injured and bloody hand as she leaned her lips to his ear. With another gasp, she whispered into her lover's ear before easing back into his embrace.

Batman's face was a mixture of shock and horror. His eyes widened almost past their limits as his mouth stood agape. He looked down at the woman in his arms, and felt cold realization flood throughout him. She wasn't moving, and she wasn't breathing. His face immediately was filled with sorrow as he leaned his head against hers and cradled her back and forth in his arms. His face was tightened in a grimace as his own tears fell from his eyes and down his cowl. Sobs were escaping his throat as he held his beloved in his arms. Everyone who was watching also began to realize what had just happened. The hero, their protector, and their guardian was gone.

As he sobbed while holding her limp form in his arms, he refused to accept it. His grimace hardened as he begun to shake his head, refusing to believe she was gone. Over and over again, he was saying no. Finally, standing to his own two feet while he still held her, the Batman looked to the heavens and screamed as loud as he could as he let his grief and his horror overwhelm him. It was if the world could hear his scream as it echoed anywhere and everywhere. It was as if the Earth, and the ghosts of Krypton himself, were letting out their pain as one.

"**WATCHTOWER! EMERGENCY TRANSPORT NOW!"** Batman screamed as loud as he could into the earpiece that sat in his cowl. In a blinding flash of blue and white light, both of them disappeared from sight.

On the Watchtower, everyone who stood on the bridge couldn't believe what they were seeing. The shock of it had seemed to freeze every function in their brain and in their bodies. Every hero and working civilian there couldn't believe what their eyes were telling them. Standing, with his uniform stained and covered with blood, was Batman as he held a broken, bloody, and lifeless Superwoman in his arms as his grief filled face spole in volumes.

"**SOMEBODY HELP HER!"** he screamed as loud as he could.

* * *

"_We interrupt this program for a special bulletin."_

"_Good evening America, I'm Catherine Grant with GBS News. Minutes ago – we received official word from the Justice League. As of four fifteen this afternoon, the heroine Superwoman was declared legally dead. The – the famed hero l-lost her life – lost her life while stopping the creature called Doomsday. Their cross country battle caused – it caused – I'm sorry. I-I just can't do this."_

* * *

He had been standing in front of the large window in the Watchtower for hours. He didn't know how long he had been there as his mind wrestled with what had just happened. It was so – unbelievable. It seemed impossible. Everyone avoided as he stood there, knowing that he and Superwoman had been such close friends. They didn't know how to approach him or to help him since the Batman had kept to himself. And no one wanted to risk what he might do to anyone. He would have almost been mistaken for a stature for he had stood in the same place and in the same posture for so long. Now, the only person that dared approach him was Princess Diana herself.

"Ronald, I-I just heard. I am so sorry." Diana said as she tried to fight back her own tears and was failing. "She was a true Amazon. She died a warrior's death, one that would put our legends to shame. I j-just wish I – I could have helped." Diana said as a sob escaped her.

"Do they look to us?" Batman asked in a monotone voice.

"What?"

"Everyone down there, on Earth. Do you think when anyone cries for help, they try to find the Watchtower? That if they see it and cry out to it, that we'll hear them?" he asked her.

"I really hadn't thought about it. Maybe they do." She said to him.

"One day, the world will look up and shout save us." He said as he looked at Diana, and caused her to gasp. "And I'll just whisper – No." he said with a hardened scowl.

Diana watched him as he turned and walked away. The way his face had looked, and what she saw in those eyes, had scared her. That wasn't Ron she had seen just then. There was no sign of the man Kim had introduced to her so many years ago. There was nothing there but The Batman.


	5. Life Afterward

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

**County Morgue; Metropolis.**

Usually, the morgue was silent during the evening hours. The only visitors they usually received were drop offs, and police officers. It was usually the norm for nights like this. Of course, tonight wasn't ordinary. Superwoman had died not too long ago, and the city decided to give her a funeral. The Justice League and repair crews were working around the clock to restore Centennial Park, where is where they were going to lay her to rest. At least, members of the League that weren't on search and rescue in the rubble that Doomsday monster had left. It was hard to believe that for a little bit Superwoman was actually here. At least until the proper mortuary would come to handle the body for the funeral itself. But there was something else that was scaring the poor clerk

Not only was Superwoman here, but so was Doomsday. There was a big fight going on over who got the claim to that - that thing's body. He knew it was dead, but it was still scary to have that thing in here with him. When it would get too quiet, he could almost swear that thing was still alive. He hoped it wasn't though. Dear God, don't let that thing in there be alive.

"Excuse me?" a woman asked, causing the poor clerk to jump several feet in the air before looking up. To his utter surprise, wearing a casual business suit, was none other than Sharon Gough herself. Behind her was a young woman wearing what appeared to be some kind of chauffer's outfit. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked him.

"N-no ma'am. What can I do for you?" he asked her.

"I was hoping I could see her."

"See who?" the clerk asked, a little confused.

"Superwoman, you twit." She said to him as her eyes narrowed.

"I don't know about that, ma'am."

"Look, kid. She saved my life several times, and she most likely saved yours once or twice. I – I just want to say goodbye to her. Please." She said to the clerk as she gave him a mournful puppy dog pout.

"I guess – ten minutes, ma'am." He said as he stood and lead her into the massive room that had so many freezer doors lining the walls.

He walked to one that wasn't labeled, but it did have S drawn on it. He unblocked the door, opened it, and pulled out the gurney that had the large white sheet draped over it. Sherri took several deep breaths as she bit her lip. She was actually trembling as she looked at the sheet that hid her friend from her sight. This was something that was almost impossible for her to do.

"Leave us." Mercy said.

"I don't,"

"That wasn't a request." She said as she glared at the man. Getting the message, the man walked out of the room as fast as he could to give them privacy. Mercy could see how shaken up her boss was, which wasn't normal for her. "Do you want me to pull the sheet back?" Mercy asked her.

"Please." Sherri said.

Mercy grasped one corner of the large sheet, and pulled it backwards. Within moments, Sheri let out a small gasp as she saw her best friend lying on the cold table. The bruises were still there, as were the cuts and scratches she had suffered during the fight. For a moment, it actually looked like she was asleep and not dead. It was so – strange.

"I don't see a Y incision." Mercy said as she noticed that besides the wounds she had received in battle, Superwoman's skin was still flawless.

"They probably couldn't pierce the skin. Even in death, she's still the strongest person I've ever met." Sherri said as she gently placed her fingers to her mouth, and then placed them on the lips of her late friend. "Good bye, Kimmie. I really am going to miss you." Sherri said as she closed her eyes tightly as she began to cry. "Cover her up." Sherri said as she turned away.

While Mercy was covering up the heroine's body, Sherrie saw something she wasn't expecting. He wasn't covered as he lay on the several slabs that were put together. Almost like it were programming, she found herself walking toward the large corpse and was soon standing over it. She could see the broken and cracked bones that were exposed, he crushed nose, and the hole Kim had shoved into his ribs. The spike she had even used was still in its forearm. As she looked at the beast in front of her, a look of disgust hung on her face.

"Sherri?" Mercy asked as she walked up beside her.

"This is him." Sherri said, causing Mercy to look at the thing. "Doomsday. Monster. Murdering son of a bitch. They didn't even bother to wash her blood off of you. Even now, you're wearing like a badge of honor." Sherri said to the monster's body.

In her enraged state of mind, Sherri grabbed the closest chair and began slamming it down against the monster as hard as she could again and again. Over and over she kept bashing the chair against the dead monster until Mercy finally put Sherri in a bear hug from behind to make her stop. As Mercy held her boss in place, she began to become worried as she heard Sherri sobbing as began to almost collapse in her arms.

"I think we better go, Sherri." Mercy said to her, trying to help her up.

"You're probably right." Sherri said as she wiped her tears from her face. She took a few deep breaths in order to calm herself. It was going to be hard enough to make sure that runt clerk didn't notice anything. As they pushed through the double doors and walked toward the front entrance, the clerk rushed in front of them with his fat face red and sweaty.

"I wouldn't go out there right now if I were you." He said to them.

"Why?" Sherri asked him.

As an answer to her question, the entrance and the wall it was attached to exploded. All three ducked to avoid the flying debris as the heat from the blast washed over them, almost too hot for them to withstand. When Sherri and Mercy stood to their feet, they saw that the parking lot had become a stand off between the Metropolis PD and an assualt team Sherri had never seen before.

"What's going on?" Sherri asked the clerk.

"Those goons showed up out of nowhere. They're trying to take Superwoman's body away."

"What?" Sherri demanded. Sherri then walked outside into the middle of the stand off, ignoring the warnings Mercy and the clerk were shouting to her. She was going to get to the bottom of this pissing contest.

"I'm telling you right now, back off!" Captain Maggie Sawyer, head of the Special Crimes Unit, shouted into the face of the middle aged man in front of her.

"You have no jurisdiction against us, lady! Superwoman and that thing in there are extra-terrestrial, and that means they belong to us!" he shouted back.

"What the hell is going on out here?!" Sherri shouted as loud as she could over the two bickering officials, startling a few of them.

"Stay out of this, bitch! This doesn't concern you." The middle-aged man said to her.

Sherri wasn't in a good mood to begin with, and the little comment from this dork didn't help at all. Her fist connected with his jaw, sending him stumbling a few steps. Sherri grabbed his left arm, twisted it as hard as she could before jamming it behind his back and upwards. Any more pressure on the limb, and she would break it.

"I'd re think that if I were you, since I own over half of Metropolis. And you put three innocent people in danger with that blast." Sherri growled.

"I'll have you crucified for assaulting a Federal Agent!" the man groaned.

"Release him, Miss Gough. This is between us." Inspector Turpin said to her.

"If you don't, we will arrest you for interfering with police affairs." Sawyer said.

Reluctantly, she let the man go and took a few steps back a he scowled at everyone.

"I told you already; we have the rights to the remains of both of those creatures in there. Now step aside!"

"For your information, mac; that ain't no creature in there. Superwoman saved just about everyone in this city so many times, I don't even think the guys at NASA can count that high. And we're going to give her the funeral she deserves. So all of you can kiss my hairy ass and go freeze in hell for all I care. Because I don't really give a crap who you are or what you've got to say. You're not going in there." Turpin said to them.

"Either move aside now, or I will use lethal force." The man said.

"It'll cold day in hell before we let you in there." Sawyer said.

"Suit yourself." The man said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a .45 handgun.

He cocked the hammer back and leveled it in between Captain Sawyer's eyes and was ready to pull the trigger, but he stopped. He seemed to just freeze in place. He skin began to pale as the veins in his temples began to rise and his eyes widened. From out of the shadows stepped several armed men wearing navy blue uniforms and holding advanced hand held weapons as they surrounded the strike force that was confronting the police. One of them had a very satisfying smile on her face as she stepped in front of the gun he was holding, and was holding what looked like a small flash drive with a glowing red light in its center. As he stood there paralyzed, the one thing he noticed was the eye patch that covered her left eye.

"I see you still have that charm of yours, Westfield." She said as she switched the small device off. Instantly, some of the color began returning to the man's face.

"Who are you supposed to be? Nick Fury's cousin?" Turpin asked her.

"Dr. Betty Director, the head of Global Justice." She said.

"Can you tell us who Mr. Wonderful is?" Sawyer asked her.

"His name is Paul Westfield, the head of Project Cadmus." Betty said as she glanced to the side at Miss Gough. As soon as she mention the word Cadmus, Betty could see unbridled anger appeared in Sherri's eyes as her face started to sneer and hands instinctively began to clench.

"Cadmus? You mean that government lab that makes those side show freaks?" Turpin asked.

"I'm afraid so. And knowing Westfield as well as I do? I'm betting he's hoping to use the DNA of Superwoman and Doomsday to create his own little super soldiers. Still think everyone besides you is out to destroy the United States, Paul?" she asked as he started to regain some movement. "Before that fat mouth of yours starts working again, I have something for you." Betty said as she removed the gun from his hands and placed a slip of paper in it. "It's from the President of the United States as well as Congress. You and Project Cadmus are hereby denied any claim or access to the remains of Doomsday or Superwoman. Any attempt to try and claim them will result in your immediate termination as Cadmus head and whatever they can think of." Betty said to them.

"Y-y-you bi-i-itch." Westfield groaned.

"Sticks and stones, Paul. GJ is now keeping a twenty-four hour watch on Superwoman until her burial, and STAR Labs will take Doomsday's remains for immediate destruction." Betty said to him.

"Are you mad? The secrets those two hold,"

"Are not for us to see. We're no where even close to try and harness that kind of power." Betty said to him.

"So let me tell you this. Pack up your shit, and get the hell out of my city." Maggie said to Westfield as his face began to turn red.

"Up yours, dyke!" he shouted.

"That's it!" Turpin shouted as he shoved an uppercut as hard as he possibly could into Westfield's gut, lifting the man off the ground as the air was expelled out of his lungs. "If you ever talk to her like that again, I'll make sure that I shove my badge so far down your throat that I'll have to take your shoes off to ring your scrawny ass neck!" Turpin shouted at him.

"Y-you're going to let him –g-get away – with that?" Westfield gasped as he tried to re-expand his lungs.

"Get away with what? I didn't see anything. Did you, Captain?" Betty asked.

"Nope, didn't see a thing." Maggie said to the Global Justice agent.

"This isn't over." Westfield growled as he and his tem turned and left, leaving only the police and the GJ agents.

"You can keep a few of your officers here with my agents to help keep watch."

"Sounds like a good idea. Thank you for your help." Maggie said.

"Anytime, Captain." Betty said as she ordered several of her agents took their stations around the City Morgue as a few police officers joined them. While that was taken care of, Betty walked over to Miss Gough and looked her in the eyes.

"Cadmus? You're still letting those bastards run loose?" she growled at the woman in front of her.

"They're a government agency, just like us. But I've been keeping my promise, and I have kept an eye on them. Why do you think I'm here?" Betty asked her.

"Not good enough. The only time I'll sleep easy is when I know those lunatics are locked up and not – not trying to," Sherri said, but couldn't finish as memories of what they were doing to clones of herself began to resurface. "I won't let them do that to Kim." Sherri said to her.

"They won't." Betty said as she turned and left.

"And they also said the Titanic wouldn't sink." Sherri growled as she and Mercy left.

* * *

She forced herself awake once more, making sure she knew her surroundings and that everything was in order. So far, everything was still the same. Just as it had been ever since her friend was moved here. She hated staying in these hospitals; they always felt so cold and emotionless. It was even more unbearable because the young black woman was laying in the bed, still motionless. She wished she would wake up. She needed some glimmer of hope after what had happened two days ago.

"Hey, Shayera." A familiar voice said, causing her to look up from her seat in the corner.

"Josh!" she said as she got up and hugged him.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her.

"I'll live." She said dimply.

"And Monique?"

"She's doing better. She never deactivated one of her abilities, and that's what saved her life." Shayera said as she glanced back to her friend.

"Have you heard about – about Kim?" Josh said as he felt his chin begin to quiver as he remembered what had happened earlier.

"How couldn't I?. Everyone was talking about it." Shayera as she closed her eyes. "They still are."

It was very difficult for her to hide her tears and to prevent them from falling. Her people were a warrior race, and did their best to hide certain emotions. Even when a close friend died. She knew she wasn't on her home world anymore, but old habits were hard to break.

"I just can't believe that she," Shayera started, but couldn't finish it.

"Me either. So many of us were off on other assignments when it happened. We just assumed that she – she could – God, I hate this." Josh said.

"Josh, it's okay."

"NO IT ISN'T! We should have helped her! I should have at least tried to have done something!" Josh shouted.

"No, Josh. You wouldn't have been able to do anything. Look at Booster and Monique. Your ability is speed, but all it would have taken was one lucky punch from that – that thing. It's bad enough we lost Kimberly." Shayera told him, but the pain was still there. These scars would take more time for them to heal, if they ever healed at all. "How's J'onn?"

"Still in critical condition. That thing really did a number on him. They don't even know where to begin looking for Red Tornado's pieces." Josh said to her. "How's Stewart doing?"

"He'll live. You know John, always a Marine." Shayera said as she remembered talking to him earlier. When something this bad happened, that's when he toughened up and went into his military training. She knew he was kicking himself for this. It was going to take her a lot more than her usual charm to calm him down after this fiasco.

"What are they going to do with Kim's body?"

"That's the harder problem. The city of Metropolis wants to bury her, and give her a public service. Since she died as Superwoman, her own family can't bury her. Oh God, Mrs. Possible! Someone's got to talk to them about this!"

"I talked to Mr. Terrific. Diana is taking care of that right now." Shayera said, wanting to desperately to change the subject. Every time they talked about Kim, it felt like her heart was being torn out and ripped to shreds. But she knew that this was hard for everyone all over the world. No matter how hard they tried, nothing would ever be the same again. And nothing would fill the void that Kim once filled. Thankfully, their talk was interrupted when they heard Monique begin to moan. Both rushed to her side as fast as they could as their heartbeats jumped as they saw her begin to move.

"Come on Monique, at least open one eye." Josh said as he gripped the safety guard to keep her from rolling out of bed while Shayera bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

"How about you brush your teeth, Mankey? What did you eat? A garlic patch?" Monique asked weakly as she tightened her closed eyes.

"I know that was an insult, but I think that's the best thing you could've said to me." Josh said as he began to chuckle.

"How are you feeling?" Shayera asked her friend.

"Like I rammed my head against an oncoming Mac truck. Where am I?" Monique asked her fellow Leaguers.

"In a hospital not too far from where we fought Doomsday. Do you remember anything?" the winged hero asked her.

"Not a lot." Monique said as she tried to think. "I responded to a call about that thing you all were up against. I remember bailing your man's butt out and then – I can't remember anything else." Monique said.

"That's not surprising. After all the trauma you went thou-OPH!" Josh said as Shayera stepped on his foot, maybe breaking a toe or two.

"Trauma?" Monique asked.

"Monique, you tried to fight that monster we were up against. We – He," Shayera said, but couldn't find the right words.

"How bad did he hit me?" Monique asked as she started to understand what they were trying to tell her.

"They thought you weren't going to make it. You left your medallion activated, and that's what saved you." Josh told her, making Monique glance down at it.

"How bad was I hurt? Josh? Shayera?" she asked both of them, and knew it wasn't good from the way they kept avoiding her; trying n ot to look her in the eye.

"T-they don't know – if you'll be able to walk ever again." Josh said to her.

The news hit Monique like a ton of bricks on the top of Elmer Fudd's head. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She didn't remember fighting that monster. The harder she tried to think and remember what had happened after she saved John Stewart, the more her head hurt. There were brief flashes, like trying to recall a nightmare. She remembered something large, and green. There were also two large round circles that were red. Were they lights? Or were they – were they eyes? But there wasn't anything else. But hearing she would never walk, it was unacceptable. She could feel her amulet working, so she knew which power was active. She would let it work a little longer. She would show these quacks who wasn't going to walk. The day she was going to be released from here, she would walk out of here.

"Were you guys able to stop it?" Monique asked them.

"Several tried to stop it. But only one of us succeeded." Josh said to her.

"It was Kim, wasn't it? I always knew that if she ever had a pair of balls, they would be made of brass." Monique said with a grin. She could always count on her girlfriend to save the day. When she glanced back to her two friends that were beside her, she saw the looks on their faces. Something was wrong. Shayera was on the verge of tears, and Josh's lip was actually quivering. What was going on? "Guys? Kim beat him, right?"

"Yeah, she beat him. She b-beat him. B-but she – she," Josh said, but stopped as tears began to fall uncontrollably.

"Guys, what happened to Kim?" Monique demanded as a very large ball of fear began to grow in the pit of her stomach.

"Monique," Shayera said as she tried to control her own tears. "Kim – s-she didn't make it." Shayera said as her own tears began to fall.

"What?" Monique whispered as everything in her mind and body screeched to a halt. "What do you mean she didn't make it? K-Kim's not dead. She's invulnerable. She's n-not dead. She's not dead, she can't be." Monique said as her tears began to fall down her face and her sobs chocked her off from saying anything else. Nothing else was said for minutes, but they didn't have to. Their silence was deafening.

**

* * *

**

Oa, headquarters to the Green Lantern Corp.

The leaders of the Green Lantern Corp, the Guardians of the Universe, were sat in session and viewing the reports from various Lanterns they had placed in many parts of the known universe. Some reports were small, reporting no activity from active criminals, while others were not for the faint of heart. But it was their duty. They would not have created the Corp if they didn't know what they were getting all of themselves into.

"It seems that the Manhunters are staying within their own designated sector." One of the small, blue skinned aliens reported to the others.

"We should still keep our monitoring on their world doubled for the time being." Another said, with others agreeing with her.

"Do we have the reports from our Lanterns in sector 2814?"

"We just recoeved Will Du's report, but we have not yet received John Stewart's." the Guardian named Ganthet said as he began to read Du's report.

"This is odd. Stewart has never been known to be late unless on assignment. Ganthet, does anything in Lantern Du's report give any clues to why Stewart is late?" another Guardian asked.

"I'm afraid so." Ganthet said solemnly as he finished reading. "Lantern John Stewart was severally injured while in battle."

"In battle with whom?"

"The Ultimate." Ganthet answered his fellow Guardians.

Many of them gasped in shock while many more could not believe what they had just been told. What they just heard was – impossible and improbable. It just simply couldn't be true.

"Ganthet, I believe you are jumping to conclusions." A fellow Guardian said.

"I wish I were. The creature Will Du describes in his report matches the description of the burial robes the people of Calaton placed on him before jetting him into deep space." Ganthet said.

"And those documents state that he was destroyed. He should still be floating in space. The documents,"

"I know of the historical documents we keep. I have read many of them, including a report from the Guardians of almost three thousand years ago. That report records when the creature attacked Oa, and killed countless Green Lanterns. That report had not only a description, but images of The Ultimate." Ganthet protested.

"Very well. We shall search the transmissions of Earth for an image of this creature you claim to be the one that attacked this world." Another Guardian said and began his search.

The holographic display showed the image taken from the attack so many years ago while another image was scanning several transmissions. Soon, it found and captured an image from the broadcasts and displayed it. The images were almost identical. Seeing that Ganthet was indeed speaking the truth shocked and frightened all of them into silence. The Ultimate was on Earth.

"We must dispatch a team of Lanterns to stop it at once."

"I'm afraid we are too late." Ganthet said to them. "The creature has been killed. It was confirmed by Agent Du in his report. But like before hand, one hero sacrificed themselves to stop it."

"Which hero was it?"

"The one known as Superwoman." Ganthet said to his fellow Lanterns.

"The last daughter of Krypton is deceased?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Inform the rest of the Corp and let our allies know. We shall have a moment of silence for the fallen hero."

**

* * *

**

Several hundred light years from Earth.

If the bars on Earth were filthy hell holes, this one establishment took the cake. A combination of the bars from Star Wars, and a hole in the wall dive you would find on the wrong side of the tracks, the only time any living being would step in here was if they had a death wish. Only the worst the galaxy had to offer stepped into this place to have a drink, or to take a rest. Anyone of them would slit their loved one's throat if it meant getting money, or power.

And despite that this was one of the many gathering points for so many wanted criminals, no law enforcement would ever step into this place. One reason was because most valued their lives. The other was that this bar was strategically placed on the border lines of several systems. No law enforcement had jurisdiction and could not set foot to make an arrest. A true hive for the scum and the worst of the universe had to offer. But despite all these hated, feared, and deadly fugitives being in one place, all of them would run for their life when only one man would enter.

The door to the bar exploded with a giant blast, sending pieces of shrapnel into several of the patrons and through them, while others suffered burns or lost a limb from wither the blast itself or from a piece of shrapnel. While the wounded lay on the ground moaning and bleeding, the large man they feared stomped into the establishment and on most of the injured as he made his way to the bar. The many thieves and crooks parted out of his way like the red sea parting for Moses.

"Sit down, Squeak. I need a drink." The large moaned said in a very rough voice as he slammed his companions head into the bar, fracturing his skull but not killing him. While his companion, looking like he had gotten into a fight with a jet turbine and had lost, tried to stop the bleeding from his new wound, the large man whistled as loud as he could to get the bartender's attention.

"Give me something cold, wet, and will burn the living piss out of my throat." The man said as he removed a cigar from his pocket.

"Yes, sir Mr. Lobo, sir." The bartender said as he trembled with fear.

The well known and infamous looked at the cigar he had just removed, and began to frown when he saw that not only was this his last cigar; but that it was also broken in half.

"You see what you did Squeak? I told you not to run!" he shouted at the wounded alien before bashing him in the face with the large iron hook that was wrapped around his forearm. The alien passed out from the blow and fell to the floor, allowing Lobo to chuckle as he removed a pair of handcuffs from a pouch that hung from his belt. He handcuffed the unconscious alien's hands together before returning to his seat, and smiled as he saw the beer in front of him. He grabbed the mug firmly, and poured all twenty ounces of the bubbling yellow beverage down his throat before letting a ground shaking belch emerge from the back of his throat.

"Let's see what I've got. Got the bastich I was sent to bring in. Got a nice cold brew that doesn't taste like piss, but I've got a broken stogie." Lobo said as he looked at what was left of his cigar. "Hell, two out of three ain't bad." He said as he placed what was left in his mouth and began patting himself for a lighter, only to realize he didn't have one.

"Shit." He said to himself as he glanced to his left and saw an advance plasma rifle sitting on the back of the thug beside him. "Hold still." Lobo growled as he pointed the barrel at the cigar end.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" the weapon's owner shouted.

Lobo pulled the weapons trigger, and a blast of pure white hot energy shot forth and lit Lobo's cigar. Lobo let the weapon go as the weight of it pulled the now headless corpse of its owner to the filthy floor as the smell of burnt hair and skin began to fill the room. Lobo was pleased to see that the bartender had filled his glass as he sat down again and didn't have to ask for a refill. As he began to chug down the beer, his eyes glanced to a transmission on a hologram projector. To his surprise, it was something from the backwater planet he had visited years ago known as Earth. The picture beside the hairless ape that was talking was the symbol of Superwoman, which instantly peeked the Bounty Hunter's interest. Ever since she had – fought him to a draw- he had some level of respect for her. He sometimes found some of her so called adventure's funny as hell. And right now, he could use a good laugh.

"Hey, turn that up!" Lobo said, and the bartender quickly obeyed. He had just rebuilt this place, and didn't want it to fall apart already.

"_Metropolis is still reeling from the attack caused by the deadly monster known as Doomsday. In the wake of the beast's attack, with so many police officers involved in search and rescue attempts, looting and crime has sky rocketed. Of course, much worse is to be expected in a world without Superwoman."_

The beer that was fixing to slide down Lobo's throat was now being sprayed across several bottles of liquor from several systems. The Bounty Hunter hacked and coughed before looking back up to the hologram.

"What did that fraggin bastich just say?" Lobo demanded.

"It's been all over the Earth news. That Super chick died saving one of their cities.

"**SHE WHAT?!"** Lobo demanded as he pulled out two large, hand held energy weapons and had them cente4red on the bartender's crotch.

"PLEASE LOBO, DON'T!" the bartender screamed as he used his four arms to cover his precious spot.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't." Lobo growled.

"Um – whose going to get you more beer?" he asked him.

"Good point." Lobo said and adjusted his aim at the pair of well known murdering mercenaries had ever seen.

"What are you looking at?" one of them asked.

"Worm bait." Lobo answered as he opened fired with both weapons, and watched as their torsos exploded in a blast of organs, bone, and various bodily fluids that covered a good portion of the bar and its occupants. "LISTEN HERE YOU FRAGGIN SLAGS! IF ANYONE'S GOING TO TAKE OUT SUPER BITCH, IT'S GOING TO BE THE MAIN MAN! YOU HEAR ME! I'M THE - " Lobo said, but stopped when he noticed his prisoner was missing. "Did any of you mother fraggin bastich's see an ugly piece of slime wonder off?" he asked the people that were still in the bar.

Everyone pointed to the far corner where the lighting wasn't that good, and most of the wall was covered in profanity. There sat a worn out booth with a table that was covered with carvings and stains that had been spilt years ago. Sitting at the booth was Lobo's prisoner, trying to pick the lock of the handcuffs with a dirty fork. Seeing at what he was doing, the other bar occupants began to run and scream for their lives.

"UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!" several shouted as the bar was emptied faster than anyone could blink.

"You're not actually stupid enough to pick that, are you?" Lobo asked him.

"W-why?" he asked as his fear began to overwhelm him and weaken his bladders.

"Because I made those, genius." Lobo said to him.

"Oh, fu,"

The explosion that erupted could be seen for two hundred miles, while the light of the blast burned the corneas out of the eyes of anyone who dared to look within a five hundred mile radius. The sound of the explosion of itself was so powerful, it caused ear drums not to rupture, but to explode in a bloody awful mess. Standing in the crater, now naked and partially blackened from the blast, was a very pissed off Lobo.

"Fragger." He growled as he began to walk where his bike was coming in for a landing.

* * *

One week. It was hard to believe it had only been a week since she had died, but it had felt like an eternity. Everyone all over the world was feeling the impact of the loss of one of their greatest hero, which was understandable. For him, he had been trying to bury himself in his work so he couldn't think. Every time he paused, every time he tried sleep, every time he closed his eyes he still saw her. He still remembered what she said echoing in his head and could still feel her in his arms. Feel her slipping away from him. Why? Why wasn't he faster? Why didn't he kept another ear out? He just couldn't,

"Batman? Batman, are you okay?" his partner asked as he landed softly behind him.

"I thought I told you to take the night off." He growled as he opened his eyes again. As he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, he could smell the atmosphere around him. It was fixing to rain.

"You've told me to take the night off for three days now. I thought you might want some company tonight." Robin said to him.

"I was doing this since I was a teenager, and I this alone for several years, Robin. I can handle it." He growled.

"But we haven't seen you around for days. Only a minute or two before you go to your day job, and almost never when you go out on patrol." Robin said.

"It's what I do."

"Boss, can't we try to talk about it?"

"NO!" he answered, not even bothering to look at his young apprentice. The harshness and the coldness in his voice wasn't normal. When he had snapped at Robin, it actually frightened the young man a bit. "What I do with my life is my choice, Robin. You should know that by now." He said as he looked into the night sky, and felt the rain begin to pour.

"Take my advice, and go home." He said as the bat signal filled the night sky. In one swift movement, Ron leapt off the roof and activated the memory cloth cape as he began to glide on the wind.

"Oracle, are you still there?"

"_Yeah. I heard everything, Robin."_

"Oracle, this isn't good. It's like he trying to block everyone out."

"_He did something like this when his parents were murdered. That's was when he ran off and became Batman. But Kim was more than just a friend to him, Robin. She was practically his whole world. With her gone, I'm not sure what's going to happen."_ Oracle said to him.

"Then I'm going to follow him, just to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"_He won't like that."_

"I know, but we're family." Robin said as he removed a grapple from his belt, aimed and fired. "And Oracle?"

"_Yes, Robin?"_

"She was something to me too." Robin said.

"_Me too."_ Oracle responded as Robin leapt, and began to follow his mentor.

* * *

"Do you think he's going to show?" Bullock asked as both he and Commissioner James Gordon stood on the top of police headquarters. Both of them had umbrellas over their heads as the signaled lit the night sky.

"He'll be here." James said to the detective as he took a long deep breath.

"I'm still not sure, Commish. Ever since that Super broad kicked it,"

"I know what I'm talking about, Bullock. I've worked with him for several years. He'll be here." Gordon said. For once, he truly wasn't looking forward to their meeting. There had been many occasions and several cases where he didn't enjoy going over certain cases with his masked friend, but this time he really dreading it. Like so many others, he had seen the footage from Metropolis. He had seen how he was when Superwoman died in his arms. It was the same way Gordon had felt when his wife was murdered. He could see the pain in Batman's face, almost like looking back in time and into a mirror. He just wished he could find some way to help him.

"Commissioner?" the all too familiar and rough voice asked him.

"You got here in half your usual time." Gordon commented, trying to relieve the tension.

"What's wrong?" Batman asked, wanting to cut to the chase.

"All right. Gotham National was being robbed twenty minutes ago. One of the tellers hit the silent alarm, and we have them cornered."

"But?"

"But they planned this out. All the hostages are wearing bullet proof vests with C4 and enough ball bearings to supply the world's supply of pinball machines. They haven't made any demands, but they have enough firepower to start a small war."

"They think you'll let them go, and they have no problem killing the hostages." Batman growled.

"No kidding, Sherlock. Why do you think we paged your pointy eared butt?"

"BULLOCK!" Gordon shouted, instantly silencing the overweight detective.

"I'll take care of it." The Dark Knight answered.

"How?" Gordon asked as he turned to face the masked vigilante, only to see no one standing on the ledge. "I hate it when he does that." Gordon said to himself.

* * *

It was hard to see him like this. So many of them had come to see J'onn as a brother, and were amazed to see that he was almost an equal to Kim. But now, here he was. J'onn was on the edge of death and still a long way to go before he's even anywhere close to out of the woods. He had slipped into a coma not too long after he had been beamed into the Watchtower and had shifted into his true Martian form. Even though he now looked alien in all since of the science fiction meaning of the word, he still looked human to the rest of them.

"Haven't you had any rest?" Diana asked as she entered the large sickbay.

"Not yet. I still have patrol duty in a few minutes." Will Du said as he looked at the sleeping Martian.

"You've been here all night?" Diana asked him.

"I had to see for myself. I've been short handed with John being put on sick leave. Right now, his temporary replacement is going through a quick training program before being put into active duty." Du said as he removed the emerald mask that hid his face and rubbed his face.

"Replacement? I wasn't aware."

"Yeah. Some hot head the ring found called Guy Gardner. I hope his career in the Corp is a short one. The man has a fuse shorter than Lobo's." Du said as he exhaled a seep breath he didn't know he had been holding. "How's Kim's family doing?"

"They saw everything on their television. Mrs. Possible is trying to be a rock, but she hasn't taken everything well at all. None of them are."

"I imagine not. God, I never thought this could happen." Du said to himself as he propped himself against a wall. Staying up for so long was beginning to catch up to him, and he didn't enjoy it.

"Will, from what I've observed in Man's World, friends try to talk to each other to bring comfort when one – when someone so close had died." Diana said as she chocked back a sob. Everytime she thought of her late friend, she was on the verge of crying. "How about we talk over coffee in the cafeteria?"

"Coffee? I thought you only liked frappacinno's." Du said.

"I can drink something different."

"I wish I could, but I've got patrol, and"

"_Incoming message from Oa."_ Du's ring said. _"Guy Gardner is to begin duty in sector 2814 tonight. He will take over Stewart's patrol until further notice."_

"The hot head made it." Will grumbled to himself before looking at Diana. "Is that invitation for coffee still open?" Du asked her.

"Of course." Diana said as they headed for the exit. "I wonder how J'onn will take Kim's death. They were good friends."

"What makes you think he doesn't already know?" Will asked her.

As the doors to sickbay slid closed, the lights began to dim to allow J'onn rest. If the two had stayed longer and kept an eye on their ailing friend, they would have seen something. One tear emerged from his closed eyes, and fell down his face that was soon joined by several others.

* * *

A small growl escaped his throat as he lowered the small binoculars and glanced to the street below. He had been monitoring the radio traffic, and the robbers had made no move yet. Several police cars that were in front of the bank had been destroyed. Some were riddled with bullet holes of various sizes, while others were burning heaps. Ambulances had been there for hours, tending to the wounded and ready to take hostages if they were freed. There was no question, these robbers were after something inside the bank. Even professionals going after money would have made a move. By now. He had to get in there. It wouldn't be much longer until they began killing the hostages that were inside.

"You can come out. I've known you were following me since I left Police headquarters." Batman growled.

"Sorry, boss." Robin said as he stepped out of the shadows. "I was just trying,"

"We'll talk about it later." Batman growled as he signaled Robin to come closer. "The only way inside is through the roof, but there's a problem. Three sentries on standing guard, and there's two hostages with them. Both are strapped with explosives."

"Do we pick off one at a time?" Robin asked.

"We can't let them alert the others inside. Stick to the shadows, and hit them fast and hard." Batman said as he fired his grapple and leapt toward the building.

"Man, this bites."

"Would you knock it off, Rob? You moan more than my girlfriend when she's in bed."

"Well, I'd rather be back in the lobby then out here getting soaking wet and freezing my nuts off, Don."

"I told you not to wear leather, didn't I?"

"Would you two just SHUT UP?!"

"Stay out of this, Joe." The sentry shouted before turning back to the other. "What did I tell you before we got here? Wear cotton, I said. Cotton breaths."

"Yeah, right. What do you think, Joe? Joe?" he asked as he looked, and saw no one standing there. "Where did Joe go?"

"Oh, crap! IT'S THE BAT!" he shouted as he cocked his rifle and aimed it at the hostage next to him, pointing the barrel right at her head. "BACK OFF, MAN! I'LL WASTE HER! BELIEVE ME, I'LL DO IT!" the sentry shouted as the woman began crying for help through the duct tape that covered her mouth.

The sentry was looking back and forth across the roof as his breathing increased. His hand was beginning to shake as he saw nothing and heard nothing but silence. The bat had to be around here somewhere. Joe could be a dipstick, but he wasn't stupid enough to fall off a building. That meant that night rat was around here somewhere. But where the hell was he? There was a loud crack as a pair of heavy boots landed on his shoulders and forced the sentry to the ground before a hard face struck him across the face and knocked him unconscious.

"I believe you." The rough, emotionless voice said as a black cape covered the fallen robber. Batman glanced up and saw that the other gunman had dragged the other hostage to the edge of the roof, and held onto a strap of their vest while keeping the gun aimed at them. The thug might not be shaking, but he could see the fear in his face.

"Don't come any closer, Batman. We're the ones in charge of this trash heap, not you. So just back off!" the gunman said, trying to sound brave. As the Dark Knight slowly rose to his full height, the gunman's courage quickly left him as he saw the vigilante look something more like a dark avenging angel. One that he knew wouldn't show any mercy. "Screw this!" the gunman shouted as he pushed the hostage off the roof and tried to grab his radio.

His radio sparked, almost shocking him, as he tried to call his boss. Scared by the sparks, the gunman dropped it in fear of his own life. Laying on the cold cement, he saw a glowing piece of metal jutting from it that looked like a bat. When he looked up again he saw the Batman towering over him before something hard struck him where his shoulder met his neck. The man crumbled into a heap while Batman glared at him.

"You were wrong. This isn't a trash heap, it's an operating table." Batman growled. A loud crack echoed in the rain filled night, followed by the thug's blood curtailing scream. "And I'm the surgeon."

"A little help, boss?"

Batman turned to see Robin holding a rope tightly while trying not to loose his grip on it. On the other end of it was the blubbering hostage, swinging in the breeze. Batman walked over to his partner and helped him pull the hostage back onto the roof before turning to one of the fallen sentries. Robin just looked at him, questioning his mentor.

"You didn't know I'd get to him in time. You were going to let him die?" Robin asked him.

"If you hadn't have caught him, there's a tree right below us. He would have landed in it." Batman growled.

"That bush down there? Are you nuts?" Robin asked him. Robin quickly stopped talking and gulped when he saw the hard glare he was receiving. He quickly turned back to the other guards after untying the hostage he had rescued. While he Robin was busying himself, Batman gripped the head of the only conscious gunman and began to squeeze.

"What is your boss planning?" he growled.

* * *

He simply stood, watching the mob outside as they tried to think of a plan of attack. This was how he liked it, his enemies at bay and too scared to try anything. Yes, everything was going according to plan. He had the upper hand, and enough firepower to stay in here for days. He never went into a job without every detail being planned. He glanced to the huddled masses behind them, and saw how some were still cringing, and others crying. He even saw a few holding to their children for dear life. Everyone outside had worry and pity for all these people, maybe even some of his men. To him, they were just canon fodder. If the police got too close, pop went the sheep. Of course, that was his plan to escape. Give them a sign of good faith, and send a hostage out. Then when the timing was right, hit the trigger. For the hell of it, he might just send all of them out and hit the trigger. Let the cops finally know who controls Gotham City for once.

"Some of these people are getting antsy."

"Then pistol whip them to shut them up." The man said.

"What about bathroom breaks? I bet a few of them are ready to pop."

"Let them piss all over themselves. The only thing we concentrate on is the plan. ETA until we reach the item?"

"About half an hour. The mag locks are giving us some trouble."

"You've got ten minutes." The man said before turning back to the crowd.

When he heard several of the women scream, he and the others spun around to see what was happening. But there was nothing at all. Nothing disturbed, all the hostages were there. All his men were – wait a minute. One of his men was missing. He better have gone to run water through his dick, and nothing else.

"O'Hern, where are you? O'Hern, answer me." The man said into the radio and received nothing but static.

"I don't like this, sir." The armed robber to his side said.

"Grow a pair of balls and shut up." He said to the man before putting the radio back to his lips. "Green and Dane, what's the ETA? Dane? Green?" he asked, but again it was the same as it was with the last transmission. Static. "Go check on those idiots. Monroe?" he asked as he turned, but saw no one. In fact, all of his men were gone. He couldn't see any of them anywhere. AS he began to look around the bank lobby more and more, he saw something.

It was in the shadows, and hard to make out at first. But his eyes adjusted and he could clearly see the outline of a man. In fact, he could see the scowling cowl and the cape the covered him. So he wasn't an urban legend after all. The Batman was real.

"I wouldn't come any closer." He called out to the masked man.

"I've heard that before." The capped crusader growled as he stepped out from the shadows, revealing himself to everyone.

"I actually mean it." The man said as he held up his left hand. Clutched tightly in it was a remote control with a blinking red light, and his thumb pressed tightly against the trigger. A smile appeared on the man's face as Batman paused, and all the explosives on the hostages beeped to signal they were armed. "One more step, or any of your funny kung fu bull and the police get to mop up what's left." The man said.

"And you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here?" Batman asked him. He was studying the device, and knew there wasn't a way for him to destroy it. From the looks, it had a built in dead man switch. With the bombs armed, the destruction of the control could possibly make the bombs go off.

"Of course I am. I hold these people's lives in the palm of my hand. There's only one way to save them, and you don't have the balls to even try it." The man said as Batman narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not letting you walk out of here with that detonator." He growled as he stealthy slipped his hand to his utility belt.

"If I take my thumb off of it, everything gets blown to hell and back." The man warned him.

"Your thumb stays on the trigger, and these people live?"

"That's right. So what are you going to do, asshole?" the man asked and smiled as he saw the scowl form on Batman's face.

"Call me that one more time." Batman growled.

"I said, asshoOOAAAAGGGHHH!!!!!"

* * *

It didn't take long for Bullock and Gordon to arrive on the scene after their meeting with Batman. Already Gordon could feel a migraine coming on as he saw the scene at hand. Why was it the worst the world had to offer had to come to Gotham City? At times like this, he even wondered if they were making a dent at all. As he and Bullock walked passed the police barricade, Gordon began scanning for the officer in charge. He needed a status report, and he needed it yesterday.

"Where's Montoya?" he asked several officers that were huddled together.

"Right here, sir." The young woman said as she walked away from an ambulance with her shoulder bandaged and her arm in a sling.

"Are you all right?"

"Just a flesh wound, sir." She said.

"What's the situation?"

"Over thirty hostages, all are still strapped with bombs. The snipers have identified who we think is the group's leader, but we can't risk taking a shot at him."

"Why the hell not?" Bullock asked her.

"Because he's holding something. We might think it's a detonator." Montoya said.

"Never send a skirt to do a real cop's job." Bullock said to himself.

"What was that?!" Montoya demanded.

"These idiots have all that fire power, and have us with our tails in between our legs? They aren't willing to blow themselves up."

"And they said no one would be stupid enough to attack the Pentagon, and look what happened in 2001." Gordon said, making the detective shut up again. For a man who hates to be wrong, he sure did like the taste of his shoes. "I want surveillance on this place around the clock. I also want us to find some way for us to make contact."

"What about Batman?" Montoya asked.

"We'll have to wait and see. Let's try and,"

"Commish? Isn't that his sidekick?" Bullock asked Gordon, causing him to look at the bank one more time. He was looking paler than a ghost as he jogged toward them, but it was Robin all right. But he also looked like he was almost shaking and it was almost like he had seen a ghost. Something was wrong.

"Hold your fire!" Gordon shouted to the officers as he approached the teen crime fighter. "What's wrong, son?" he asked the young man.

"H-he w-wanted me t-to give you this. Whatever you do, for the love of God, don't take the thumb off the trigger." Robin said as he handed something to the commissioner and immediately grappled himself away.

"What did that mean?" Montoya asked as Gordon's eyes widened at what he was holding.

"SISTER MARY FRANCIS!" Bullock shouted as Montoya gasped.

In Gordon's hand was the severed hand of the lead robber. The hand, still warm as it oozed blood from it's severed arteries and veins, was grasping the remote control tightly with the thumb still clamped down on the trigger.

"Someone get me the damn bomb squad. GET ME THE BOMB SQUAD NOW!" Gordon shouted as the officers scattered to fulfill their superior's order. All the while, Gordon stood still as he held the severed hand in his own shaking hands. Things weren't as bad as he had thought with the Batman. They were worse.

* * *

"He did what?" Diana asked in pure surprise as she sat with the other founding members of the League.

"He cut the dude's hand off! He even broke the back of one of the other robbers too!" Josh was telling them.

"No, Stoppable wouldn't do that. He would never cross his line." Will said to the other members.

"The man was threatening to blow up innocent people. He might not have had any other choice." Shayera objected.

"There's always another choice, Hawk Girl!" Josh said, using her hero name instead of her given one. Whenever Mankey used their title's when it was just them, you knew he was starting to get upset.

"Let's just cool down for a minute." Will said, making everyone present take a breath. "Mankey and myself have known Ron for a long time. We both know he would never cross that line he made for himself. Everyone here knows that for a fact." Will said.

"But you're forgetting one thing." A deep voice said, causing them to turn as they saw J'onn step into the room limping and clutching his bandaged chest.

"J'onn? How are you feeling?" Shayera asked him.

"Lousy." He answered and winced at the surge of pain that flooded his brain.

"J'onn, you should be back in the sick bay!" Diana said and rushed to his side.

"Yeah, big guy. Shouldn't you be resting?" Josh asked him.

"I've rested long enough. Kim is gone, and now we're in danger of loosing Ronald." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Shayera asked.

"I have been trying to reach him while I was recuperating, and what I found is troubling. Kim was the only thing that has kept his sanity intact when he suffered the loss of his parents. She has been a major influence in his life. It is almost like they were the living embodiment of Ying and Yang. With Kimberly dying in his arms, Ron's mind is now plunging deeper into depression. His anger is almost boundless now, and he's searching for a way to release it." J'onn said to them.

"How bad do you think he's going to get?" Will asked him.

"If we don't try to help him soon, the Ronald Stoppable we once knew will be gone forever. And what will remain, we may not want to even try to imagine." J'onn said to them.

"What should we do first?" Mankey asked him.

"For now, we have to keep an eye on him. Kim's funeral is in a few days, and the League will be there. The crowds will be unstable and many others may see it as a target. All active League members are to be on high alert and to keep an eye out at all times." J'onn said. As he was helped to his seat at the table.

"What about Ron? He should be apart of this."

"It is his choice, and we can not force a decision on him. But right now, we must ready ourselves to lay our friend to rest." He said to them.

**

* * *

**

Gotham Cirt, two days later.

Robin was out on patrol by himself, trying to clear his head and think of a plan of action. Ron was getting worse, and he knew it. Everyone in Gotham City knew it. Gordon was worried, Wade didn't know what to do, and Harvey Dent was thinking about bringing Batman up on charges! After everything Batman did for him! That two-faced rat lawyer. What did he expect? Dent was a lawyer, and even the lunatics in Arkham were sane enough to know not to trust them. There had to be something they could do for Ron, though.

He was putting criminals in traction every time he busted them. Just last night, he and Ron found out that several thugs had stolen an eighteen wheeler that was supposed to be secretly transporting money for the Gotham meant. And what did Ron do? He used the Bat cycle to flip it! He actually made it flip forward on it's back! They were lucky no one had gotten killed!

"_Robin, come in."_ a feminine voice said in his communicator, surprising him for a moment.

"I'm here, Batgirl. What's wrong?" Robin asked her.

"_I'm handling a gang fight right now, but I saw several thugs chasing a man down Crime Alley. Can you take care of it?"_

"I'm not too far from Crime Alley. I'll take care of it." Robin said as he ran across the rooftops and got his bow staff ready.

Crime Alley was a very sensative spot for Ron. At one point, many years ago, this was one of the most elaborate and most respectable place in Gotham City. But over the years, it kept slipping downward. Soon, it was so over run by the mob, and other criminals that no one ever came through this part of the city. That was how it was nicknamed Crime Alley. It was also around here where Ron saw his parents murdered. He had tried to stop the mugger, but the guy was higher than a kite and had fired wildly. Robin figured that was one of the reasons Ron had become Batman was because he thought it was his fault. With the way Ron was now, he didn't even want to imagine what he would be like if he came into this part of town.

It didn't take Robin that long for him to find whom Batgirl was talking about. It was a man in a fedora and an overcoat that had been cornered by several thugs all right. Judging from the way they were dressed, they might be part of one of the local gangs. There were only thee, so it might not be that hard, One of them had a knife, so that meant he had to take care of that first. Robin kept his eyes locked on the knife as he withdrew a batarang from his utility belt. He made a mental note to try and see if he could design a couple that looked more like a robin for him to use. Pushing the thought aside, Robin kept his eyes on the thug's knife and threw it.

The batarang sunk into the thug's hand like a knife in butter, causing him to drop the knife as he screamed several curses while holding his now useless hand. Robin leapt off his perch while extending his bow staff and landed in front of the three would be muggers. With a swift and hard swing, Robin swat one thug in the face before planting one end of his bow staff onto the ground and propelled himself to the right, slamming he ball of his foot into the jaw of the thug that had been holding the knife. The other swung, but Robin ducked below the punch and planted a solid hit in between the mugger's legs before punching him in the stomach, and back flipped away while kicking him in the jaw with both feet. With two down, that left the one he had swat in the face with his staff. And he didn't look to happy.

The man charged the Boy Wonder while Robin stood poised and ready to fight. At the last minute, as the mugger was barreling down on top of him, Robin stood aside and kicked him firmly in the back. The added momentum sent him straight into a brick wall and knocking him out cold while the others moaned in pain.

"All done here." Ron said to himself with a smile.

"Are you sure, Bird Brain?" the man in the fedora asked.

As Robin turned around, the man removed a mallet from his coat and Robin in the face as hard as he could. Robin fell to the ground unconscious as his staff clattered to the ground. "A bird in the hand." The man said to himself as he began to chuckle and picked up the ear piece that had fallen out of Robin's ear.

"_Robin? Robin, are you there? Robin, come in!"_ Batgirl said franticly.

"Sorry, but your party can't be reached. Please hang up and dial again." The man said into it as he removed his hat while started to laugh uncontrollably and let his greasy, unwashed green hair fall in front of his bleached white face.

* * *

"The Joker." Ron growled as listened to the recording Wade downloaded from Batgirl's ear piece. Ron's fists were balled so tight that his fingernails were about to draw blood from his palms.

"I didn't know. If I had,"

"Take it easy, Batgirl. You didn't know." Wade said to the young woman as she hugged herself.

"It was trap. He was trying to get either one of you while been sulking in here." Ron growled.

"But why does the Joker want Robin? It doesn't make any sense." Wade said to him.

"Yes it does. He wants to torment me first; make me suffer. It's all part of his sick sense of humor."

"So where do we start looking?" Batgirl asked him.

"There's no we. I'll go and look for him. If the Joker wants a fight, I'll give him a war." Ron said as he walked over to the converted vault that now held several Bat suits.

"What do you think he's going to do when he finds him?" Batgirl asked Wade as they watched him march into the vault.

"I don't know, but I'd hate to be that lunatic right about know." Wade said to her. Wade's attention turned to the large computer when it alerted them to an incoming call.

"Oracle." Wade said as he activated the voice changer.

"_This is Gordon. Tell Batman he needs to get to the roof of Police Headquarters at once. And hurry."_

"What's the problem?"

"_He'll have to see it to believe it."_

"Tell him I'm on my way." Ron said as he emerged from the vault and pulled the cowl over his face.

* * *

As he had earlier on, Comissioner Gordon was not looking forward to this meeting with the Dark Knight. The incident with the bank robbers had only confirmed his fears about Batman's state of mind. They had all depended on the Batman for so long, even though the police never openly admitted it. But know he was wondering if he should call Arkham Asylum and tell them to ready a cell for Gotham's dark protector.

"What is it, Jim?" Batman asked as he stepped out from the shadows.

"I sent Montoya up here to activate the signal when she found something disturbing." Gordon said.

"Which was?"

"Look for yourself." Gordon said and stepped back from the signal.

It took a strong force of will to prevent Batman from showing his emotions as he saw what Gordon had been talking about. If Batman had been angry before, he was now absolutely pissed off. Strapped to the front of the bat signal was a kid that was no older than Robin was. His throat had been slashed open, and a hideous smile had been carved into his face. It was also covered in white face paint and red lipstick had been painted around the carved smile. Batman recognized the kid, though. He had busted him several times for stealing and grand theft auto. But it was no secret who had done this to the kid, and what kind of message he was sending. The shirt the dead teenager was wearing was Robin's tunic and cape. The Joker was sending Batman a message.

"He has him." Batman growled so deeply, his voice sounded like gravel was being ground into powder. "Did he have anything on him?"

"Actually, he did. We found these on the body." Gordon said as he handed him an evidence bag.

Batman took the sealed bag and looked at its contents very carefully. It was several movie tickets, but they were old. Most of the movie theatres in town usually had several colors on them, with printing that said which movie it was for as well as a rating. These were old style. They hadn't tickets like this since the early eighties. And most of the old theatres in Gotham were gone. Except one.

"I know where the Joker is." Batman said as he handed the evidence bag back to Gordon.

"Good. Tell me where and I'll have the S.W.A.T. team down there immediately. Batman?" Gordon asked, but saw that Batman was already gone. "lease tell me we won't need the coroner."

* * *

"_Those who brave the night will find_

_Horror, dread, and a demon's mind._

_He tracks them all and rends their souls._

_Darkness comes where Batman goes."_

_-Mickey Zucker Reichert_

_-altered by screaming phoenix_

* * *

The Paramount theatre was once a proud jewel of movie theatres. Even as Crime Alley spiraled downward, this theatre stood as one of the last beacons to its once former glory. It was also the place where Ron spent time with his parents before they were murdered two blocks away from it. After the Stoppables were murdered, the theatre lost the audience that had kept it alive and closed. Now it was standing in its place like an opened and rotting wound.

Inside the theatre, several men were trying to find a way to occupy themselves until their guest arrived. One was nursing his back and sore face while another kept an ice pack on his crotch.

"For crying out loud. You going to sit there and freeze your dick all night long?" one of them asked.

"Hey, that kid hit me hard! All right? It felt like he had bricks in his glove." He groaned.

"Taken out by a kid whose balls haven't even dropped yet. Aren't you proud?" another asked.

"SHUT UP!" the goon shouted and groaned in pain as he pressed the ice pack firmly against his crotch.

"How long is Batman supposed to take, anyway?" the goon nursing his back asked aloud.

"Hell if I know. The boss said something about leaving him a note, so who knows when he's supposed to get here." Another responded.

"What is he supposed to do? Walk through the front door?"

The glass doors of the old theatre were shattered as the batmobile barreled into the lobby of the closed theatre, bringing most of the front entrance come crumbling down. The large assault vehicle fired both of its cannons, making the old concession stand explode into splinters and glass shards as another blast destroyed one of the double door entrances to one of the screening rooms and made all hired muscle run and duck for cover. In all the confusion, none of them had noticed the canopy to the batmobile had opened, and it now sat empty.

The thug that had been nursing himself with an ice pack was on all fours as he tried to see through the fog of smoke and debris, unaware of where he was going. As he patted the ground, his hand found what felt like a strange hardened boot. Confused, he looked closer to try and figure out what it was. When he realized who the owner was, the boot's owner swiftly kicked him in between his eyes, knocking him onto his back. Acting swiftly, the caped crusader went after the others as the smoke began to clear. Not giving them a moment to react, the Dark Knight quickly bashed a thug in the side of his head before knocking him out with a hard left hook.

The next thug actually surprised him. This one actually knew a decent amount of martial arts as he kept trying to attack the Batman. He easily recognized each fighting style he was using. Tiger, Crane, and Mantis. He was executing them all perfectly like a rare dance. There was just one problem though. Batman was better. The thug tried to use a high kick, but Batman grasped the man's ankle and slammed his fist into his knee cap as hard as he could. The thug screamed in utter pain as he hobbled on his other leg while Batman tried to strike. Surprisingly, the thug had dodged Batman's attack and was forcing himself to support his weight on his injured knee.

"I'm gonna kill you, sucker!" he shouted before trying to attack again.

Batman side stepped as the thug attacked and clothes lined the hired muscle in his chin. The man hit the floor head first with the blow echo through out the lobby. Batman grasped the would be attacker by his shirt and lifted him to his eye level and glared at him.

"Maybe in the next life." Batman said before throwing him through the door that lead to the ticket counter, and through the plexi-glass window that surrounded it.

Batman stood still for a moment to catch his breath before he shot his right fist behind his head and heard smash into the face of the last of the Joker's goons. As the man collapsed with the rest of his friends, Batman turned and walked through the hole in the wall where the doors fro the theatre used to be. As he approached the second set, he could hear whistling coming from the other side.

Pushing the doors opened, Batman could see that the large canvas screen had been ripped away a long time ago, and the stage that had been behind it was now a quick messy mock up of some strange laboratory. As he walked onward toward the stage, he could hear that the whistling was to the song Rockin' Robin. And strapped to a cold, adjustable operating table was Robin. He still had his mask and the lower half of his uniform, but he was missing the tunic Joker had placed on the dead body. As Batman walked closer, he could see the Joker had taken a marker and had drawn what were supposed to be stitches across Robin's head and on various parts of his exposed skin. When Batman finally approached the stage, the Joker stepped out from a side curtain with his hideous scarred smile still as wide as he remembered it. He was also wearing what was once a very top of the line purple designer suit, but now it looked like he had stolen it off of a homeless man.

"Long time no see, Batman. How's tricks?" the Joker asked him, as if he were talking to an old friend. Batman remained silent. "Cat got your tongue, huh? I don't blame you. By the way, I saw your little performance on the boob tube. I haven't laughed so hard since I saw the ending of Old Yeller." The Joker said as he started to laugh. He stopped as soon as Batman leapt onto the stage as his face was contorted in rage.

"Don't take another step, Batsy. You see, I've always been an avid movie fan. As you can see here, my favorite was always Frankenstein with Boris Karloff. So if you take one more step, I'll turn your little Robin into fried chicken." He said as Batman saw the large switch Joker was standing next to. He could see all the wires that were leading from the box, behind the set props, and to a pair of cables that were clamped onto the table. The Joker wasn't bluffing.

"What's your game, Joker?" Batman demanded.

"Always to the point. Well, I wasn't lying when I said I saw you on the TV. I've also heard about how much darker you've gotten lately. As soon as I heard that, I just kept imagining the fun we could have if you finally flipped your lid."

"You did this just to piss me off?" Batman asked as he felt every muscle in his body tighten from the anger he was feeling.

"No, I did it to drive you nuts. As you know, insanity is it like gravity. All anyone needs is a little push. So, instead of a push, I thought I'd just shove you right off the cliff. Any last words, squirt?" Joker said as he started to run toward the power switch.

Joker screamed when he felt a batarang graze his arm, tearing open the suit as well as his flesh while another broke open one of the cuffs that held Robin's arms to his side. Batman leapt high into the air and came crashing down on the Clown Prince of crime, shoving his knee into his abdomen as he did so. Batman kept the lunatic pinned as he kept belting him across the face over and over again. Batman stood to his feet and yanked the Joker up as well before slamming into a wall as hard as he could. Batman slammed his fist into the Joker's ribs before smashing him with a right cross, knocking three of his teeth out of his mouth. Before Joker could even try to glance at his arch foe, the heel of Batman's left hand struck Joker across his cheek and jaw before back handing him with the same arm. The spikes of Batman's gauntlet grazed across Joker's face, drawing blood that almost seemed to contrast with his pale skin before Batman slammed his forehead into the Joker's.

"I'm going to break you in two!" he growled in the Joker's face as he withdrew a larger batarang and pressed the edge against the Joker's throat.

"Oh, please! If you had the balls for that kind of fun, you would have done it years ago." Joker said to him.

"Things change." Batman answered as he held onto the Joker tightly. His anger was so powerful that it was actually making the Batman's entire body shake.

"But that means you would have to break that one little rule of yours." Joker taunted.

"I'm seriously considering it." Batman said and pressed harder into the villain's neck and started to move it.

The Joker hissed as he felt the sudden pain. He glanced down at his arch foe in confusion, wondering what he was trying to do. That's when his smile started to falter when he saw into Batman's eyes. He had looked into them so many times, he could almost tell what he was planning. But this time, he could see all the anger and rage inside him had finally surfaced. He was really going to do it. After all these years of taunting and tormenting him, after all his crimes and pranks, this was it. He was actually going to kill him!

"BATMAN, NO!" Robin screamed as he freed himself from the operating table.

"Why not?! One swipe, and I never have to worry about this scum hurting anyone ever again. No one else would ever be part of his sick jokes. If I've ever seen anyone that deserves to die, I'm looking right at him." Batman shouted.

"But that's not you, and you know it! If you drag that across his neck, you're no better than him!" Robin shouted.

"I DON'T CARE!" Batman screamed as loud as he could as he saw his hand shake uncontrollably. It was as if his body hadn't made up ots mind yet.

"She wouldn't want you to do it." Robin said.

That's when Batman stopped. Everything in him came to a crashing halt as he began seeing flashes of Kim in different parts of their life. He could hear her in his head. It was actually like she was in there, trying to talk him out of this. The Joker was actually so scared, he looked like he was about to wet himself. He could see the batarang pressed against his pale throat, and he could see the small cut he had already made. Part of his mind was screaming at him to do it, to kill the bastard. But he could also hear Kim's voice at the same time. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what he should do anymore. Everything had been sent spiraling out of control since she died. With a loud scream of both anger and grief, he dropped the batarang and bashed in the Joker in the face with a mighty blow which also forced his head to hit the wall. He let the mad lunatic fall to the floor in a babbling heap as he tried to catch his breath as he kept looking upward, not wanting to see what he had almost done.

"Take out the trash." Batman growled before he turned and left.

* * *

"Okay, Robin. Thanks for letting me know." Wade said as he terminated the connection. Robin had to hack into a phone line to talk to him, but he had just informed Wade of what had just happened. He didn't want to admit it, but maybe it was time to hang up the cowl for a while. HE had almost lost it, and that was hard for him to believe. He thanked God that Batgirl had already left to pick up Robin, but he wasn't looking forward to when Ron finally came back.

No sooner had Wade finished that thought, he heard the engine of the tumbler re-enter the cave. It wasn't long before he saw the massive vehicle enter the cave and come to a stop on the massive turntable. When the canopy opened, a very weary Batman stepped out from it and leaned against the vehicle's body. He was still breathing deeply as he kept his eyes closed; his face seemed to be twisted in pain as he tried to block everything out.

"Ron?" Wade asked him.

"Get out." He said.

"Ron, we have to,"

"**I SAID GET OUT!"** Ron screamed, echoing across the ancient cave and causing the bats that were sleeping to wake up and flee from the noise.

Reluctantly, Wade turned a left the cave. As soon as Wade was out of sight, Ron walked to the massive computer and immediately but the entire cave on lock down. He heard the entrances seal themselves closed as the massive locks fell into place and sealed him inside. When there was nothing but silence, Ron reached up and removed the cowl that he had worn so many times. He held the mask in his hands for several minutes as he looked at the empty spaces where the eyes should be. His hands kept tightening as he held the mask, his anger beginning to grow again.

"It's not worth it." He said to himself as he threw the mask aside. His anger was still boiling within him. It was actually burning inside of him; feeling like it was boiling hot lead that was flowing through his veins as everything kept rushing and colliding in his mind all at once.

"IT'S NOT WORTH IT!" he shouted as he smashed one of the smaller computer screens with his fist before picking up the chair and flinging it into one of the deeper parts of the cave. He walked over to the part of the cave that had been converted into a crime lab, and began smashing the various pieces of equipment. He picked up the microscope that had been sitting on the table and threw it threw the case that had held the various chemicals he needed for testing. Screaming his rage and pain to the world, he turned over several tables before picking up another and threw it through his evidence case of his past solved cases.

Leaving the now destroyed lab, Ron grabbed several of his small explosives and hurled three of them into the vault. In a matter of seconds, the vault exploded as several of the bat suits were destroyed. With another loud scream of agonizing rage, he hurled another into the open tumbler and watched it as it was destroyed in a mighty explosion before tossing the last explosive into the small room where Wade had create several of his weapons and watched all of it get blown away. Falling to his knees exhausted, Ron kept his eye glued to the floor as his whole body became wracked with grief.

"It's not worth it. Not without her." He said to himself as the batcave sat in ruins.

* * *

Sherri kept looking at the distant sun set as stood in front of her office windows. She didn't know what to feel at that moment right now. It was as if a part of her had become numb. She couldn't believe that it had been several days since Kim had died. It was so unreal, just so absurdly random. She hated Kim for being the hero and screwing up so many of her plans. There was never denying that. But she had also lost her best friend. They were enemies once again, but she had always had so much respect for the heroine. Maybe it had been something more? Is that why she had enjoyed sleeping with Kim's clone so much. Was it a chance to fulfill some lust she had for her? Or was it to be close with someone she actually cared for? To finally have that feeling that she could finally trust someone?

It was just all so confusing to her now. She couldn't even face the clone, Galatea, anymore. It was just too hard to look at her. She had said she understood, but did she really? God, she was getting so confused that it was giving her a constant headache.

"Sherri? I've got the reports you wanted." Mercy said as she entered the office.

"What about the work on Centennial Park? How much do our crews need to finish?"

"It's done. The Justice League's help really sped it along. All they need to do is to finish the tomb."

"What about the statue?"

"It'll be here by tomorrow." Mercy said.

"Good." Sherri said to herself as exhaled a deep breath. "Mercy?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you still work for me?"

"What?" Sherri asked, confused by the question.

"Why do you still work for me? I haven't treated you right, and I haven't been with you in so long. I just thought you would have looked for a better job somewhere else by now." Sherri said to her.

"Do you remember when you found me, Miss Gough? I was living on the streets, and eating out of trash cans and dumpsters. I was no better than a stray you find on the streets."

"You weren't that bad."

"Yes, I was. I tried to steal from you, and you caught me. But instead of turning me in, you took me in. You trained me, you taught me how to fight. You gave me a life. I owe you everything." Mercy said.

"But I've been a bitch. To everyone. I've been trying to rule the world and I – I left everyone else that mattered behind me." She said.

"You've always been a bitch. But you're also a strong person, and I've always admired that." Mercy said as she stepped close to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Not right now, I'm not. I watched my best friend die. She saved my life so many times before she even put on the cape, and I never repaid her for it. Instead, I saw her as a threat. Now, she's gone. It's like I – I can't feel anything anymore. It's like I'm numb all over." Sherri said.

"I'm always here to help you, you know that." Sherri said as she wrapped her arms around her tightly.

"I want to feel something, anything. Anything ." Sherri said as she leaned into Mercy's embrace and moaned as she felt her lips on the nape of her neck. She needed this right now. She needed something to take her mind off the feeling of emptiness she felt. True, she enjoyed being with Galatea. But it was Mercy that had always made her feel loved and wanted. She had always been the one to be there whenever Sherri needed some kind of comfort.

* * *

Dick rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the morning sun filled his room. As he finally allowed his mind to recover from the long night's rest, he began to wonder how Ron was doing. It had been three days since the incident with the Joker, and Ron hadn't come out of the batcave ever since. So far, Batgirl and himself were handling the crime in Gotham City as best as they could. But he knew it wouldn't be long until they figured out that Batman was missing, and then it would be just like in Metropolis. It would be a criminal free for all. He just hoped Ron would get his head together soon.

"_Dick, breakfast is ready."_ A very familiar voice said over his intercom, cheering him up a little.

"I'll be down in a minute Hanna." Dick said as he sat up, but pressed the intercom button again. "Han, has there been anything from Ron?"

"_No. Big bro is still locked in the cave."_

"What's he doing down there?"

"_I wish I knew."_ She said.

* * *

The cave was dark with only the sounds of water dripping and the various bats that called the large cavern home. As the various nocturnal creature's slept in their home, only one noise echoed through out the cave. Amid the destroyed command center of the feared Dark Knight, Ron sat in front of the massive super computer as it played the song Sleepwalk. The first time Ron had ever heard this song was when he and Kim watched the movie La Bamba when they were still in elementary school. At the end of the movie, when Richie Valens had died, they played this song. Ever since then, Ron always felt so sad when he heard it. His father used to tell him that several of his friends had conceived their kids while listening to it, but that was how his father saw it.

Now, here in the dark, it was the only song could stand to hear. With every slow guitar code, he felt a memory of Kim resurface. He had loved her so much, but every memory felt like a knife was being pushed into him deeper and deeper into his heart. As he heard the song play on, he looked to the computer screen in front of him. Wade recorded several news broadcasts all the time and knew that the one he wanted was most likely in the computer's memory. Sure enough, he found it. The footage that showed her dying in his arms. He fast forward the data file until he reached the point he wanted. He clicked play and saw as Kim grasped him, using all of her strength to whisper something to him before passing away. Ron rewound it again, and zoomed in on the scene. Again and again he played it, making slight adjustments. It was killing him every time he saw her die. Every time he saw the life slip away from her, he felt his heart being ripped apart. But he needed to hear her one more time. He had to be sure.

Finally, he let out a small sob before he played the clip again and heard Kim's voice echo across the cave.

"_Ron – Ron." _She said as she pulled herself closer to him and whispered her last words. _"Our baby - would have been beautiful,"_

In the darkness of the once proud batcave, the terror of Gotham sat crying and defeated. The monster known as Doomsday had succeeded where so many had so desperately tried to do for so many years. It had accomplished the unattainable goal they had dreamed of for so long. Not only had he killed Superwoman, but he had also broken the Batman.

Next chapter:

Funeral for a Friend.


	6. Funeral for a Friend

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

**Arkham Asylum; thirty minutes after the Paramount Theatre incident.**

Everything he was reading in the file before him made him question his colleague more and more. Her paperwork kept reporting that her patient was improving, maybe even showing signs of a full recovery. But his actions were contrary to what she had been reporting. If anything, he was growing worse with each incident. This didn't make sense to him. He knew his colleague was one of the best, a prodigy even. So why was there such a grave error in her observations and judgement? A few ideas came to mind, but he was too scared to face them. He hoped he was wrong, but he knew there was a strong chance he may not be.

"Doctor Arkham?" a woman asked as she stepped inside his office. "You wanted to see me?

"Yes, I did. Have a seat Dr. Quinzel." He said to the young woman. He folded his hands together and took a deep breath as she took a seat in front of him and brushed a lock of her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Do you know why I've asked to meet with you today?"

"Not really." She answered.

"It's about your case study of Jack Napier. The inmate which is also known as The Joker."

"Is there a problem with it, sir?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so. Others have interviewed Mr. Napier in the past and most of them say the same thing each time. That he is a sociopath with psychotic tendencies, as well that his degree of insanity shows that he most likely can not be cured. How ever, your reports seem to state the ooposite of such. Even hopes of rehabilitation?" he asked her.

"It's m personal belief that no one is beyond saving, sir. Not even someone like the Joker."

"Dr. Quinzel, may I remind you of the numerous crimes he has committed? Vandalism, theft, arson, not to mention the numerous counts of murder and assault charges. Every time he has been apprehended for the heinous crimes, he's found them humorous. Including his recent escape which I believe he copied from the film Silence of the Lambs." Dr. Arkham said to her.

"I admit that he does seem a bit – excitable."

"Excitable? Dr., you have been recommending this patient for parole hearings and charge dismissals when it's obvious that he's far from even being transferred to a maximum security prison! I also have several reports from guards and orderlies on nightly patrols that you were seen venturing into the patient's room and not leaving for hours at a time?"

"I'm trying to find the reason for my patient's psychosis, Dr. Arkham. I believe the key for curing him is buried somewhere within his mind. Maybe I can even find the exact cause for why he became the Joker in the first place."

"That's no excuse, Dr. Quinzel! I'm sorry, but you have been showing a severe lack in judgement since you were assigned to this patient, as well as your other obligations. I even have a report that you assaulted another doctor when she made a comment about Mr. Napier. I'm starting a full inquiry about your behavior and the relationship you've obviously formed with Mr. Napier. Until further notice, I'm having you suspended." He said to her.

"Y-you can't do that!" she said in complete shock of her superior's actions.

"You've left me no choice, Dr. Quinzel."

"But you don't know what might happen if I stop treating the Joker."

"Dr. Quinzel, what do you think may happen once your care for your patient stops?" he asked her.

No sooner had the words escaped his mouth, a large shadow formed over the office from the skylight that was centered above the old doctor's office. Seeing the strange and ominous shadow stretched across the room caused both doctors to look upward in curiosity. As soon as they had, a body fell through the skylight that showered both of them in several shards of broken glass. As the body tumbled and landed on the top of Dr. Arkham's desk and breaking its legs, Dr, Quinzel and Dr. Jonas Arkham were shocked to see that not only was the body still alive; but who it was as well. Moaning in pain with several cuts and bruises all over him was none other than the Joker himself as he kept looking upward in wide-eyed terror at the hole he had made. Looming over him, hidden in the shadows of the night was the scowling face of the Dark Knight.

"What in the – SECURITY!" Dr. Arkham shouted while Harley rushed to the Joker's side.

"Puddin, are you all right?" she whispered to him.

"H-he – he was going t-to do it. H-he actually w-wanted t-to k-k-k-kill me." The Joker kept stuttering as he shook.

"Guards, get him out of here!" Dr. Arkham said as two security officers entered. Listening to Dr. Arkham, both grabbed one of the Joker's arms and dragged him out of the office and down the hall to the infirmary as Dr. Quinzel looked on in horror.

"NO! YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed.

"Dr. Quinzel! Get a hold of yourself!" Dr. Arkham shouted as he tried to restrain her.

"NO! HE NEEDS ME! PUDDING, DON'T LEAVE ME! NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM! NO!"

**

* * *

**

One week later

Metropolis Airport was busier than any airport in the United States lately. It was like the world's entire population was flying into the city to say their last farewells. The funeral was tomorrow, and the mood in the air seemed so tense. The Justice League had to keep its eyes peeled in case anyone tried to plant a bomb, or decided to try and pull something. That many heroes and important people gathered in one place was asking for trouble. Everywhere you looked, people were wearing black arm bands with Superwoman's shield on it. The whole world was still mourning the loss of the fallen hero, and it was probably still going to mourn her for a while. A few heroes were trying to get the crime wave in Metropolis under control, but not even the entire League could replace one hero.

In the midst of the gathered crowds, one young black woman was trying to push her way through the ocean of rudeness to reach the terminal of a flight that had just landed. So far, she wasn't making good time. Her body was still somewhat soar, but at least she was finally out of the hospital. She was tired of feeling like something that Frankenstein had put together at the last minute. But her mood wasn't improving as one man in a long coat rudely pushed her aside in order to get to his destination. Finally becoming sick and tired of doing it the old fashioned way, and violating her doctor's orders, her hand went to the pendant that hung around her neck.

"Leopard." She whispered as she felt the medallion work its magic on her.

Finding a clear space, the young woman tensed her muscles before leaping over the crowds and into a palm tree that had been placed inside the airport. The instincts and abilities that were flowing through her allowed her to maintain a graceful balance as she searched the large airport for what she was looking for. Finally, she saw which direction she was supposed to go with a cat like grin. Tensing her muscles again, she leapt out of the tree and onto the second floor where she dashed in the direction she wanted. Once she saw the terminal she needed below her, she leapt over the banister and landed on both of her feet. She brushed her hand over the medallion once more and felt her body return to normal as she walked to the terminal door as it opened. Within a few minutes, after several dozen people had walked passed her, she sighed with relief when she saw who she was looking for.

"Mrs. Possible!" she called out, flagging down the older red headed woman and the two young men with her.

"It's so good to see you Monique." Anne said as she hugged the young woman in a tight hug. "How are you feeling?"

"It feels like I went a few rounds with Atom Smasher, but I'll live. How are you holding up?" she asked and hugged the now grown Jim and Tim.

"As well as can be expected. " Mrs. Possible said, but it was obvious in her voice that it was taking all of her will power just to stay this calm.

Monique knew it must be hard for all of them, but she couldn't imagine how much strength Mrs. Possible was using to keep herself pulled together. She wished there was something her or the others could do for her to be apart of the funeral, but they needed to keep Kim's identity a secret. If any of their adversaries found out who she really was, they might go after her family to get revenge.

"I'm real sorry, Mrs. Possible. Believe me, everyone wishes we could have done something more." Monique said to her.

"Looked like you didn't do anything at all." Tim whispered to himself.

"Would you can it, already? You saw what that thing did to them." Jim said to his twin brother.

"It wasn't like there wasn't more of them." Tim said as his voice began to grow louder.

"Boys, enough!" Mrs. Possible said sternly to them. "This is hard enough on everyone. Both of you know that they were helping other people, and they tried to help your sister. For once c-can't you both just – just listen to me?" Mrs. Possible asked as she tried to keep her grief in check.

"Sorry, mom." Both of them said.

"How about we get your bags and get you all into the hotel?" Monique asked them. The last thing she wanted was for all of them to fall apart.

"Actually, we were going to stay at Kimmie's apartment for now. There were just a few things I – wanted to,"

"I understand." Monique said as she lead her friends mother to the baggage terminal. "Wait a minute. I thought Kim's distant cousin was living with you now. Where is he?" Monique asked them.

"He had some things to take care of. He'll be here later tonight." Jim said.

* * *

The terrible blizzard outside almost made him loose course, but he still pushed onward. Smart idea for the fortress to have a defense mechanism like that. This region had frequent blizzard's, and any unwelcome traveler would only think it's a normal storm. Not too mention it was also designed to try and make the intruder wonder away from what was hidden beneath the storm. It had almost worked on him. But he still pushed his way through the horrible storm, and knew what he was looking for shouldn't be that far off. He needed to make sure of something. If he didn't, what had happened to his cousin would haunt him for the rest of his life. Of course, he didn't know how the systems inside the fortress would react since he knew his father wasn't one of his uncle's favorite people.

Strangely, he saw and felt the blizzard begin to lose its strength the further he traveled. Soon, his efforts were soon rewarded as he emerged from the blinding storm, and saw the monument in front of him. The last standing monument in the known universe to Krypton's brilliance, it's technology, and their way of life. The Fortress. But what Kal couldn't understand was why the fortress was still active. He thought that with Kim dying, the fortress would have shut down. But he remembered that he was also a living blood member of the house of El. Maybe the fortress would work for him as well. Only one way to find out.

Kal flew into the entrance of the fortress and was greeted with a welcomed feeling of warmth and comfort from the environmental systems inside. Obvious, despite Kim's passing, the Fortress was still online. He didn't know exactly how it worked, but he was grateful that it was. With a few steps, a small smile crossed his face as he saw crystals rise from the center of the fortress to create the main access panel that would allow him to operate the massive computer system. Kal was slightly nervous as he stood in front of the multiple crystals. Last time he was here, Kim had touched them before he had, which had deactivated the security precautions. So if they didn't accept him, he would soon feel it in the worst way. Taking a small deep breath, he quickly reached out and placed his hand on one of the crystals and waited.

One minute passed by, then another. And still, there was nothing. No shock, no energy blast, nothing. With a small sigh of relief, he began to move and shift the crystals into different locations on the panel until a holographic display and the large glowing pillars that stood around him projected a holographic interface in front of him.

"_Kryptonian database online."_ The computer said in Jor-El's voice.

"Computer, access restricted files. All of them regarding genetic manipulation." Kal-El said.

"_The restricted files are too numerous to be displayed. Please request from which time period in Krypton's history."_ The computer said to him.

"How long ago was it? Damn it, I knew I should have listened to dad more often. The files from – I think, three-hundred thousand years ago?" Kal asked it.

"_Accessing."_ The computer said to him and became silent for a few seconds. _"Files located."_

"Okay." Kal said to himself as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Access,"

"Who the hell are you?"

Kal furrowed his brow in confusion as he heard the voice behind him. It sounded so familiar, but it was impossible who it could be. Kal turned to see who had entered the fortress and gasped at who he saw in front of him. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he began to hyperventilate in fear. Who he saw was impossible. He saw her killed on the television. The hair was different, so was her stance, but it was her!

"K-Kara?" he asked her.

"Who?" the woman asked as she took a few steps closer and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"This can't be. You died, I saw it."

"Died? Kid, what are you – oh." The woman said as she realized who he was talking about. "Look kid, I know who I look like. But trust me, I'm not little miss 'I Can Do Anything.'" She said to him.

"B-but – if you're not Kara, who are you?" he asked her.

"My name is Galatea. Who are you?" she asked him.

"My name is Kal-El, son of Zor-El and Alura of Krypton."

"So you and Princess were – what? Cousins?"

"Yes." He said to her.

"So you can do everything she does, huh? Leap over tall buildings? Faster than a speeding bullet?" she asked him with a chuckle.

"Not yet. I – don't know how to use – all my powers yet. Kara – was supposed to teach me."

"Sorry, kid." She said as an awkward moment of silence fell over them.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

"For a while, I noticed that Superwoman would zip up north every so often. Now that she's gone, I got curious as to why. Of course, I never imagined it'd be – something like this." She said with a grin as she looked at the Fortress' interior. "What is it?"

"You're standing in a monument to what my people were." He said, not trusting her enough to tell her what exactly the fortress hid. "If you're not Kara, then why do you look so much like her?" Kal finally asked her.

"Believe it or not, I'm Superwoman's clone." She said to him.

"A clone?" he asked her. He knew the technology on this planet was primitive, almost Stone Age when compared to the technological advancements of Krypton. But by Rao, had they advanced far enough to clone a living organism? And a Kryptonian at that. "I wasn't aware that humans were so far advanced."

"Don't give them too much credit. I'm not a perfect copy. The dork who made me was able to splice a few other genetic codes into me. I'm guessing that's the only reason I don't look like a marble statue." She said to him and saw the immediate confusion on his face. "Okay." She said to herself as she unzipped her coat and unbuttoned her shirt. As she revealed a very large amount of cleavage she also revealed a large patch of hardened white skin above her right breast.

"You see that? In two hours, my whole body will look like that. Not to mention I'll start talking like Timmy from South Park." She said to him.

"Incredible." Kal-El said as he stepped closer and examined the hardened skin. He had always been a bit of a scientist himself, hoping to venture into the field of medicine. And to see something like this was almost a dream come true for him. "How do you reverse the process? Sunlight from this star?"

"Nope. I have to use this." she said as she took out a led box from her pocket.

"What is it?"

"It's Kryptonite. It's deadly to – I mean it was deadly to Superwoman. And since you're Kryptonian, it's most likely deadly to you. But with me, it keeps me from looking like something from Andy Warhol's imagination." She said as she pocketed the box, but left her shirt unbuttoned.

"Still incredible." Kal-El said as he let the information sink in.

"What's incredible? My genetic make-up or my tits?" she asked him.

"Um – well. Both, actually." Kal-El said as he felt his face blush and grow warm while a surprised smirk spread across Galatea's face. It was strange for Kal to feel like this. This was a clone of his cousin, technically she was also family. It was just too weird for him to even try to think about.

"So what exactly were you doing?" she asked him.

"Huh?"

"When I walked in, you were asking the computer to access something."

"Oh." Kal said as his heart began to sink. "I think I know what killed Kara."

"You do? How?"

"I'll show you. Computer, access files on project perfection."

"_Access granted."_ The computer said as it displayed columns of information and reports, diagrams, and various video footage that showed a strange gray skin alien with large eyes that was surrounded by what Galatea thought was humans.

"What am I looking at?"

"The biggest mistake in Krypton's history." Kal said to her.

"Huh?"

"I'll explain. Thousands of years ago, Krypton was somewhat like Earth's early history. No sign of intelligent life yet, and only the strong survived while the weak were left to the environment around them. During that time period, a distant alien race that had been trading technology had made contact with several other races. From what we were able to gather, they were looking for something so grand that the universe would remember them for all time. That's how they were able find him." Kal-El said as he brought up the image of the gray skinned alien.

"Who is he?"

"We learned that his name was Bertron. He was the leading expert in genetic manipulation. He claimed that with his knowledge, they could create the perfect being. They believed his pompous boasting and made an agreement with him to create the perfect being. They saw it as a way of creating a guardian to protect their world while Bertron saw it as a way to realize a life long dream. Bertron discovered Krypton while it was a very savage world in its infancy. Before our world evolved to sustain known Kryptonian life, its atmosphere used to be a toxic one. So they created a base of operations on Krypton to create their experiment." Kal-El said.

"I'm scared to ask what the experiment was."

"You should be. It didn't take them long, but they were able to create an infant that was, for a lack of a better term, perfect."

"What did they do after that?"

"They sent him into that world and watch the atmosphere kill him. Slowly." He said.

"My God." Galatea said. She might be cruel with some things, but not even she could imagine doing something like that. "Why would they do that?"

"From our studies, Bertron believed that the infant would evolve to survive the environment by being constantly exposed to it. So after they gathered what ever was left of the infant, they cloned it. Every time he fully cloned the infant, he sent it back out."

"That's cruel."

"I know." Kal said to her as he took a deep breath. "However, Bertron turned out to be right. The infant evolved to where it could breath the toxic atmosphere and survive the barren terrain." He said as he began looking through the files that were displayed before him. "The infant had to deal with the creatures that lived on Krypton's surface next. Similar to your dinosaurs, these creatures fought to live and survive. They showed no mercy." Kal-El said.

"Let me guess. The sick bastard kept cloning him and sending him back out?"

"Yes. But when it sent the infant out one last time, it didn't die. After some time, all the savage life on that world disappeared. In fact, almost all of the life on Krypton disappeared. And then, the baby came home." Kal said and showed the computer recreation of the product of their savage work. If Galatea didn't know any better, what she saw almost looked more terrifying than he did on the television. He was caked in dried blood, and his bone protrusions were longer and seemed almost deadlier. His eyes were blood red, and his teeth even looked like he had used them as part of his weapons. But her eyes didn't deceive her. It was the monster, Doomsday.

"My God. It's Frankenstein gone wrong sick." Galatea said.

"If only. That monster killed everyone, including Bertron; and then destroyed the lab. A supply transport that was going to make a drop off reported that the lab had been destroyed and there were no survivors. Somehow, Doomsday stowed away on it."

"How long ago was that?" she asked him.

"About three-hundred thousand years ago."

"Huh? T-then how did you?"

"When Kryptonians began exploring space, we found out about Doomsday. Mainly, from two sources. One source was when one of my Kryptonian ancestors became a Green Lantern and had access to their historical records. The other source was when we came into contact with a living computer known as Mother Box. Except he was known as the creature of Armageddon back then.

"After gathering as much data as we could about that thing, it wasn't long until we were able to determine that it was born on Krypton. It was hard for us to believe that the thing those people had created killed the prehistoric life on our planet. All of our scientists, including my father and uncle, thought it was dead. But when I saw Kim fighting that thing – I should have helped her. I should have fought along side her."

"Kid, I saw it too, all right? You said you didn't know how to control your powers, so what makes you think you would have made a difference? For all you know, you could have leveled half the city." She said to him.

"It still doesn't ease the pain." He said. "If you're her clone, why didn't you save her? You have her abilities."

"Because of what I mentioned earlier. I had been busy doing – something for a friend, and forgot to medicate myself. The next thing I knew was that I was paler than a sheet and thought two plus two equals five." She said as she grazed a finger across the edge of the console.

"How often do you need to absorb Kryptonite?"

"Once every two days. If I really exert myself, once to twice a day." She told him.

"I'm Sorry." Kal said.

As he returned his attention to the display, Galatea looked at the panel. As she did so, she realized that the fortress contained all data of the most brilliant minds of Krypton. All their advancements and their research were all stored within the Fortress' memory banks. As this realization went through her mind, an idea began to form.

"We're your people good in genetics?" she asked him.

"Yes."

"What about splicing all that? Adding on to a DNA chain, or repairing it?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to check, but why?" Kal asked her as she let out a deep sigh.

"There isn't a lot of Kryptonite on Earth. I've already gone through an asteroid that was the size of a dodge ball. I can't keep doing this forever. If your technology can fix me to where I won't have to use Kryptonite, I'll teach you how to use your powers." She said.

"I don't know about that." Kal-El said to her.

"Why not? This place can do it, can't it?"

"Possibly. I'm not sure."

"Then what's from stopping you?" she asked him.

"Because I don't know what all this fortress can do. It was designed with Kara in mind, not me. And I'm not an expert in genetics. I also don't know how different your DNA chain is. I could kill you." He said to her.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take. Please, I'm sick and tired of being a freak." She said to him.

Hearing this from someone that looked exactly like his cousin was making him uneasy. He remembered some of the stories Kara had told him when she was growing up on this world. How each new ability scared her, made her think that she was an outcast or what the woman in front of him had just said; a freak. But the only ones who could teach him were dead and the other was looking at him in the face. What was he going to do now? The fortress and its secrets now fell to him, but it would be nice to know that even if she wasn't a complete Kryptonian, he wouldn't be alone.

"You teach me how to use my powers, and I help you?" he said, making sure it was what she had said.

"That's what I said." She said to him and watched as he thought it over.

"All right. I'll do it. But it'll have to wait. Kara's funeral is tomorrow, and I need to get to Metropolis before then." He said to her.

"I guess I can live with that. Want some company?" she asked.

"If you wouldn't mind." He said to her, not wanting to be by himself right now. Not when the wounds of loosing his cousin were still so fresh.

"How come I haven't heard anything about you?" Kal-El asked as he powered down the fortress' systems, and they left through the exit.

"That's a long story, kid." She said to him with a chuckle.

"We've got time." Kal-El said as they left the Fortress and took the air.

* * *

The cave was still shrouded in darkness with the only light coming from the glow of the computer's large screen. Sitting in the large chair that sat in front of it was Ronald Stoppable as he looked at the data saved on it. Old recorded news feeds of Kim fighting as Superwoman, or some of the photos and videos of when they were growing up. He had long ago removed the Batman suit, no longer even able to look at it. He sat in the cold and drafty cave in an old black T-shirt and a pair of slacks he had forgotten about. Scattered around him were empty soda cans or a few empty coffee mugs. A few meals were left uneaten or only half eaten. His face was rough as his facial hair grew, not touched by a razor for a few days.

For days, he had been burying himself in his depression as he watched the images of the past play out again before him. Mr. Dr. P, his parents, Rufus, and now Kim. All of them were people he had cared so much for that were now gone. Mr. Dr. P was like a second father to him, and he had passed away when they were seniors n high school. His parents were murdered in front of him after his first term in college, and Rufus passed away while he was at Yamanouchi. And now Kim was gone to. He was so angry when he thought about how they died. How she had died. He wanted to kick, yell, and scream at the world. He couldn't stand the pain he was feeling.

He cleared the computer of the images and just sat back in the chair as he felt new tears run down his face. He had not only lost his friend and the love of his life, but he also lost a child. He had lost their child before it even had a chance to truly live. Every time he saw Kim, he would see moments that would never come, birthdays that would never happen. A family that would never exist. Not ever again. His heart felt like it was being torn apart every time he kept thinking about it. He wanted to take his anger and want for revenge out on the world or on the scum of the streets, but he couldn't. When he did that, he had almost killed the Joker.

That lunatic was no saint by far, but he didn't deserved to be killed. Not by him. He remembered how much he wanted to, though. His want to drag that batarang across his throat and watch that lunatic bleed to death. He wanted to see the Joker suffer in agony as he died. But Robin had been right. It wasn't him, it wasn't in his nature. He would have been no better than all the other psychotics he had put away for so many years. And Kim would never had wanted him to do that. Ever. It was so strange as he thought about it. When sense finally pushed its way through into his brain, he could feel her there. He could feel her hand on his shoulder, and almost hear her in his mind; begging him not to do it. He closed his eyes as he rubbed them with his hands, trying to ward off the feeling of sleep that was washing over him. He didn't want to sleep. Not yet. He just didn't want to do anything.

"You always did love to procrastinate."

"It's a way of life." He said with a small smirk.

"That's what you used to say. You don't do it much anymore, do you?"

"Can't afford to in this line of work."

He said. That's when his eyes bolted open and his jaw fell slack as he saw Kim leaning against the computer in front of him. She was wearing her old green tank top and her jeans like she used to wear when they were in high school. He could also clearly see that beautiful smile of hers that seemed to light even the darkest room as her eyes shimmered what always seemed to be pure joy. Even when she was angry, he could still see it there.

"Kim?" he whispered.

"You've really fallen into a rut, haven't you?" she asked him as her smile turned into a very worried look of concern.

"I – I just can't do it anymore, KP."

"Why?"

"It's – I almost killed him, Kim. I was ready to take a life."

"But you didn't." she said as she straddled his lap and brushed a few strands of hair aside.

"But I'm so angry at everything now. I just can't do it anymore. Not without you." He said as a sob escaped his throat.

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't. I need you too much in my life, KP. I can't see the reason for me being Batman anymore." He said to her as she leaned in and kissed his forehead. He closed his eyes as he felt her warm lips press against his skin. He could even smell the scented shampoo she always used. "I can't save the world without you."

"You have to, Ron. The world needs you."

"But I need you. I can't live without you." He sobbed as he grasped her hands in his.

"Yes you can." she said as she freed one of her hands and ran it along the side of his face. "Ron, you have to go on." She whispered to him. "Do me one more thing."

"What is it you want me to do?" he asked as he cupped her hand against his face.

"Wake up."

Ron opened his eyes and saw no one in front of him. It was only the screen of the computer in front of him with only himself sitting alone in front of it. He raised his hand to his face, but only felt his fingers brushing against it. His hand tightened into a fist as felt agony come over him and once again began to cry. Why? Why did God hate him so much to play such a mean prank like that? He hated this empty feeling inside of him. It was like most of himself had completely collapsed and nothing could repair it.

"Big bro?" Hanna asked as she came down the steps into the cave, and turned on a few of the lights to the cave.

"Leave me alone, Han." He said as he pulled himself partially together.

"You been down here for days. Don't you at least want to come up for some air or anything?"

"No."

"Well, you have to soon. Kim's funeral is tomorrow, and the League needs you. They even contacted Dick to help keep an eye on the crowds."

"I'm not going." Ron said simply.

"What?" Han asked her brother in surprise.

"I'm not going to the funeral. Not as Ron, and not as Batman." He said to her.

"You – you can't just – why?" Han asked him.

"I don't want to. I can't help it, but I can't go." He said while Han stood shocked and speechless at her older brother.

"You selfish son of a bitch." She said, causing her brother to look at her.

"Watch your mouth."

"Like hell I am." She said as she walked over to Ron's chair and spun it to face her. As soon as she did, Hanna balled her fist tightly and decked him across the face as hard as she possibly could. Ron touched his cheek gently as he felt blood begin to drip from the corner of his fat lip as he looked at Hanna in surprise.

"You think you're the only one that lost someone?! I loved Kim too! So did Dick and Wade! The whole world loved her! You think you're the only one suffering over this?! And I know you loved her, I could hear you two from here sometimes!" she shouted at him.

"Don't you dare,"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed at him. "You knew her your whole life, Ronald! And now you're just going to cower in here like a selfish little shit! You know there's going to be riots, probably several attacks on the funeral procession. And instead of saying goodbye to her one more time, and making sure nothing happens to everyone else who loved her out of respect and one last favor to her, you're going to be a hermit? Over my dead body!"

"Leave me alone." Ron said and turned away from his sister, ignoring her as she stomped away.

"Mom and Dad would be more than disappointed at you right now. They'd be ashamed." She said as she walked off.

There in the dark, he sat. Once again he sat alone with his thoughts, and the images of the past. In a way, he always kept himself buried there. Now here he sat with his sister's last words to him gnawing at him endlessly. Ron did his best and tried to ignore her words, but he couldn't. They stung into him and to his core like an arrow made out of pure ice. He closed his eyes as he let the last sob he had been holding back escape. His parents. Were they the reason he had become Batman? If they were, then why didn't he feel the ambition anymore? Why was he sitting here, lost in the dark? If they weren't his reason for becoming the Batman, what was? The reason he had become Batman. He looked at the blank monitor screen in front of him for a moment before letting out a sigh and decided to turn on the rest of the lights inside the batcave.

The cave was still partially dark and dank, which was what he preferred most of the time. But there was enough light to allow him to see what he had done. For the first time in several days, Ron finally walked deeper into his command center.

The lab was in pieces, but it could be easily rebuilt. As he made his way toward the vault where he kept his various uniforms, he saw that it was in complete shambles. It looked like most of the suits were still intact. Hopefully. A few would have to be replaced from scratch, but others could be repaired in secret. It was going to cost him, but he knew Wade could do it. But the tumbler was another story. Ron mentally kicked himself as he looked at what was left. The bat pod, the vehicle part of the tumbler converted to in case of catastrophic damage, looked like it may be the only thing left working on the tumbler. Other than that, another one would have to be built. That would draw some attention. Then, he looked where the first vault still stood. It had been vacuum-sealed for past few years now. When the other suits had been made, he built the new vault and had all but forgotten about this one.

Above the original vault was an enlarged family portrait he and his family had taken not too long after they had adopted Hanna. One of the few happy days he still remembered. It took him a while to get used to his sister, but he would guard her with his life. As he looked at the portrait, he could feel them scolding him with their eyes as Hanna's words began to ring in his ears once more. As he felt his parents scold them and Hanna's words torment him, his mind began going backwards. He saw that horrible night replay in his mind. He had tried to reason with him, offering the thug his wallet. But the man looked like he was shaking, like he was high. When he saw his mother's necklace, that's when things went south. His dad had grabbed the man's wrist as he reached toward his mother. When the man had turned, Ron could hear the shot and see his father fall while clutching his chest. When his mother had screamed, the thug seemed to pull the trigger out of instinct. As the man, the monster, ran away into the night, he saw himself falling to his knees in that alley as he saw the blood pool beneath his parents.

That was when he had first met James Gordon. He was still a beat cop, trying to help Ron as he sat in the station. He remembered telling him that they had caught the man responsible, Joe Chill. Cordon kept Ron informed the whole time during the trial, and even helped him when Ron had to testify. Chill was sentenced to life in prison, and was killed not too long afterward. It turned out he worked for the Falcone family, and he had pissed Carmine "The Roman" off. That was when he went back to Yamanouchi. He took Hanna and Rufus with him, but found that his training at the school wasn't enough. That was when he appeared, claiming to be a man named Ducard. Training him, molding him. To make him an assassin. But he couldn't kill. That was when he learned of who he was and had destroyed the home of the League of Shadows. He wasn't an assassin. But what made him want to be Batman? Revenge? No, it had gone past that. He didn't want anyone to suffer like he had. He thought Gotham could be saved from itself. All they needed was – was – hope.

That's why he had originally started his revenge quest. To not just stop crime all together, but to let the people stand up for themselves. But when Kim died in his arms, it felt so pointless. So what was he going to do then? Was it hopeless? No, it wasn't. That's what the dream was about. Kim was able to give hope to everyone. When she was younger, and as Superwoman. That's what everyone needed now more than ever. They needed someone to give them hope. That's why he became Batman. He wanted to create a symbol for the criminals to fear, and a beacon in the dark to give the weak and defenseless hope. He wasn't Superwoman, but he was Gotham's guardian. He was their only defender against the scum out there. He was their Dark Knight.

"For you, Kim." He said to himself as he entered the old code, and heard the locks unbolt and the door open with a hiss.

There it was, one of the first bat suits. He hadn't worn it since their battle with General Zod. It was also the day the Justice League had been born, when they decided to ban together to help others. He just hoped that it still fit. He began slipping into the armored suit and flexing his limbs as he felt it tighten around his frame. So far, it still slipped on him like a glove. Next came the gloves themselves, and the boots. The next items were the gauntlets he had taken with him from the League of Shadows so many years ago. As he wrapped the cape around himself, he began to feel something that he hadn't felt for a while. A sense of purpose again. A sense of knowing that this was what he had to do. The last piece of the uniform was the cowl that hung behind his head. He looked up at the portrait one last time, and thought of Kim as he did so. He closed his eyes and lowered his head as he reached back, and grasped the cowl firmly. He pulled it up over his head, and felt the cool material slide over him as he pulled it downward and felt it form perfectly around his head. It was Ron Stoppable that closed his eyes. But as he looked up at the portrait once more, it was the Batman that opened them.

**

* * *

**

Metropolis

Inside Kimberly's apartment, her family felt like they were staying inside a tomb as their grief almost consumed them. All around them were pieces of Kim's life that almost felt like a sharp slap now that she wasn't there anymore. In one part of her bookshelf, an award she won for her columns in the Daily Planet sat near her computer along with several old family photos. Another series of photos were group pictures of her and Ron with his sister Hanna and his foster son Dick. In Kim's bedroom, Anne was putting on the last few touches of her make up as she tried to keep herself from crying. It was so hard for her to be standing there and see everything there. It was as if she was going to walk in through that front door at any minute, like nothing had happened. The other day, she was going through her closet and stumbled on the empty space behind the fake wall. In it were several of her uniforms just sitting there. And on the chest of all of them was that symbol. The family crest of her biological family, the House of El.

Anne knew Kim tried to embrace both of her homes. Everyone always thought that she was Superwoman all the time; and usually didn't even think that she might have a personal life. But Anne knew. Everyone that was close to her knew who she really was. Superwoman was the disguise she wore that allowed her to help others the way she wanted. Kim Possible was who she really was. Anne closed her eyes and took a long deep breath to try and calm herself down. This was harder than when she had to bury her husband, James. She had to be strong for her children, to try and help them. But now one of her children was being buried today, and she couldn't have any part of it. She kept seeing in the Daily Planet on how Kim was presumed missing, maybe in the rubble of the fight from that – horrible monster. It was almost killing her to have to stay quiet. She wanted to scream and shout to the world that Kim was Superwoman, and she wasn't coming back and to stop hurting her family. But she couldn't. Lois, Ron, Dick, and her boys would be in danger if she told anyone.

As she opened her eyes again, her heart caught in her throat. Sitting on the bed, waiting for her like he always had, was her stuffed animal Pandaroo. She loved that thing so much, she hardly went anywhere without it. That was how Anne knew her baby wasn't coming back to her now. Because Anne knew that no matter Kim would have gone, she never would forget Pandaroo. No parent should have to bury their child, ever.

"Anne?"

"Kal? What's wrong?" Anne said as she tried to straighten herself and wiped away the tears that were about to fall.

"I was hoping you could help me. I can't seem to tie this – tie right. That's still a strange name for it." Kal said to himself.

"I'll help you with it." Anne said as she walked to the tall young man and began to properly adjust the garment. "Have you thought about an Earth name yet? If we keep calling you Kal, they'll think you're a surfer."

"A what?"

"Never mind."

"I thought of one name Kim had suggested. It was the name of someone she once knew in school. But I'm not sure."

"Why's that?"

"Because I will be moving to the Fortress soon." Kal said to her.

"What?" Anne asked him. "Why do you want to move?"

"It's because you don't want me in your home anymore."

"Kal, why would you ever think something like that?"

"Because I failed you. All of you. I should have fought by Kara's side, and I didn't. Instead, I did nothing while she was beaten to death. I'm a coward."

"Kal, look at me." Anne said as she raised her hand to his face, and made him look her in the eye. "I made you stay. You're not strong yet, and I didn't want anymore of my children hurt out there." She said to him.

"But I'm not your child. I'm no one's child anymore. Not even my own parents wanted me." He said to her as his own tears began to make themselves known.

"Kal, of course they wanted you. They loved you. They sent you to Earth because they didn't want you to die. Why do think Jor-El and Lara sent Kim here? You're family, Kal. And no matter what you or anyone else thinks, to me; you are as much my son as Jim and Tim are. Do you hear me? You're my son too." She said to him.

"Thank you." He said to her.

"Now, we have to finish getting ready. Monique will be here soon to pick us up. So, can you help me with this?" she asked as she pulled out a necklace from her jewelry case.

"What is it?"

"A very rare, one of a kind, pearl necklace. James gave this to me on our first anniversary. He found it in a pawnshop and thought he was getting the real thing for a bargain. When I had it appraised, I found out they were fake. I never told James, though. I never saw any reason to. To me, they were better than any real pearls he could have ever gotten me. Until the day he died, he thought had gotten me a real pearl necklace." She said to him with a sad smile.

"It does look lovely." Kal said to her.

"The last time I wore it was to James' funeral." She said as she looked at them. "Can you help me put it on? I was always all thumbs with thing."

"Sure." Kal said as he took the necklace in his hands.

Anne slid her hands to the back f her neck and raised her slightly graying hair as Kal placed the pearls around her neck. He fumbled with the lock for a few moments, but he soon had the latch in place and let the necklace rest against her skin. As she let her hair fall back into place and looked at herself in the mirror, she remembered her husband's funeral. On the day they buried him, it was Kim who had helped her with the necklace that time. And she had just tried to ease her pain, after she blamed herself for not saving him. And now – now –

"Oh God. My baby's gone." Anne said as she began to break down and cry over the loss of her child.

Kal held her there as she clung to him for support. Their tears fell together as they both mourned someone who meant more than words could have ever described. Even if it took the world's greatest poet all of his or her life, they would never be able to capture the loss and pain both felt at that moment. It was a feeling that no one wants, and everyone hates. When one that is truly loved is unfairly taken away. Those wounds, no matter how much time passes by, will never heal. Those wounds remain open and continue to bleed for all time.

**

* * *

**

Metropolis, a stormy and rain filled morning.

The large chapel in Metropolis was filled beyond capacity while hundreds of others stood outside in the pouring rain. Large flat screen monitors had been placed in several locations in the city to allow the gathered citizens the chance to view the city's final farewell to their fallen hero. The first eight pews alone were filled with members of the Justice League, with five of its seven founding members sitting in the first pew. Diana was wearing an elaborate white satin dress in the fashion of her people on Themyscira, while wearing elaborate golden armor with it. Shayera was wearing a black uniform without her helmet as she cast her gaze downward. Jon's eyes were half opened as he did his best to ignore the pain he was feeling from his wounds that hadn't completely healed yet. Will Du had changed his costume to where it was mostly black and a green triangle formed around his shoulders with the symbol of the Green Lanterns in the center of his chest. The Flash was in his usual uniform, but was solemn and kept his mouth closed for once. Even he knew now was not the time for jokes. On every arm of the Justice League was a black band with Superwoman's symbol on it. All of them wore it in memory of their friend.

In the center of the rows of pews amongst those gathered sat Monique with Mrs. Possible and her sons Jim, Tim, and Kal-El. Kal didn't know the proper way to morn his cousin in the Earth fashion, but had decided to wear a pair of her old horn rimmed glasses. N order to make sure he could see clearly through them, he was using his X-ray vision to see through the lenses. But he didn't completely understand how to use it yet. Every so often, his vision would return to normal and he would let the glasses rest on the edge of his nose so he could see the service.

In front of the alter sat the silver coffin in which Superwoman was laying in. Her eyes were closed and hands folded as she wore a brand new uniform. It was hard for Anne to give the League one of her uniforms so they could dress her. To everyone, it looked almost like she was asleep. On the closed portion of the casket sat a large bouquet of various flowers

Everything was quiet as everyone waited for the service to start. No music was being played since no one knew what she liked, or what she would prefer. No one even knew what religion she was. So, the first to step to the podium was the mayor of Metropolis himself.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you know, the city of Metropolis has suffered a horrible tragedy. Today, we're here to lay to rest one of Metropolis' citizens that has done more for our city than anyone could imagine. I know many out there think I'm going to try and use this as a platform for my political career, but I'm not. I can be a selfish pompous ass sometimes. But we're here to say goodbye to a fallen hero.

As many of you know, I wasn't a very big supporter of Superwoman. Like many of our city's citizens, I was scared of her. She had these abilities we can only dream about, and that was enough for me not to trust her. I even personally led a crusade to have her arrested for vigilantism. But that was until – I became one of the many she had saved. As you know, two years ago, a former employee of our city government took many of us hostage. Two of the hostages were my wife and daughter. Superwoman was able to fly in, and stop him before he could kill anyone. She gave me my family back, and I knew that I had misjudged her. Ever since then, I have been her greatest supporter. The loss we have suffered can not – can not even be – I don't even words for it. With her passing, Metropolis is not the only one suffering. It's the rest of the world that has lost someone true and decent. We may be able to repair our city, but we can not bring back those that Doomsday took from us. But what we can do is remember them, and the one person who made sure that – that that thing – will never harm anyone else ever again. Superwoman, I just wanted I'm sorry for the way I misjudged you. If I could, I would step down and take back everything I said if it meant bringing you back. You will be missed." He said as he left the podium and wiped the tears from his eyes.

As he walked away, the next person to the podium was J'onn himself. He took the journey slowly as Hawk Girl helped him. As soon as he grasped the podium to support his weight, she stepped aside to let him speak.

"On behalf of the League, I would to thank Metropolis for this service its giving to our beloved friend. As you know, neither Superwoman nor I are from this world. But over time, you accepted us as one of your own. And since then, we have been trying to repay that kindness by helping others. Superwoman was a true friend, to all of us. Even her adversaries have admitted that on several times, she could have let them die. But instead, she put their differences aside and saved their lives anyway. Superwoman embodied the best in all of us. She gave us strength by showing us that anyone has the courage to stand up and defend what they believe in.

Many thought she was the leader of the Justice League. Today, I tell you that that is false. The League has no leaders, but; we looked to her for strength and support. She was our guiding light. We will continue to honor her legacy, but none of us will ever be truly able to take her place. As we say farewell to her, we also say farewell to the race of Krypton. Their memory shall always live on." J'onn said and let Hawk Girl help him back to his seat.

"Now, will the following please approach to carry the deceased outside." The mayor said as he removed a list from his pocket while aide's came and closed the casket and removed the bouquet. "The Flash, Hawk Girl, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, and Robin."

**

* * *

**

Apokolips

In his dark fortress, jutting out of the living nightmarish hell of his planet, stood the cruel dictator of Apokolips. His body was clad in a dark blue armor, with a sleek matching helmet sitting on his head that left his hardened gray and stone like skin of his face exposed. With burning red eyes, he watched the transmission from Earth on the giant monitor in front of him. By his side, wearing his dark purple robe, was he servant Desaad. As the heartless Darkseid watched the service, his sniveling servant looked at him in confusion.

"Oh great and powerful one, why do you not attack now? You have been planning Earth's invasion for many moons now, and your chance to crush the humans is at hand. Their champion has fallen."

"No, Desaad."

"But my lord,"

"I SAID NO!" Darkseid bellowed, making the servant cower in front of his master like a whipped puppy.

"B-but why?"

"Of course, you do not know. I have been a God four thousands of years, servant. I have seen many things in my life. But over two hundred and forty-five thousand years ago, I saw something that was – incredible. It was something horrible, that not even I could imagine. But it was still incredible.

My uncle Steppenwolf and I traveled to the planet of Bylan 5. They were producing a chemical vital to the weapons production of Apokolips. I would have conquered it in a brutal attack, but that would destroy the deposits on that world. So my mother arranged for me to marry the princess of that backwater planet. No sooner had I arrived, a strange ship crashed onto that world. And from its ashes arose death personified. The only being I would truly call my friend was with me that day. His name was Master Mayhem. He thought this creature was a worthy opponent."

"What happened to him, oh mighty Darkseid?"

"The creature ripped him limb from limb, with a brutality that not even I or Granny Goodness could ever imagine. He was known as the creature of Armageddon. I would have vanquished this monster myself, but he attacked one of the buildings that stored and processed one of the chemical deposits. The release of the chemical was turning the atmosphere to poison and I was forced to leave. Everything on that world died, but him." Darkseid said.

"I still do not understand, my lord."

"Of course not, flea. I don't know how he had managed to survive all these years, but the creature Superwoman fought was the creature of Armageddon himself. And not only did she die fighting it, she was able to do what I was not able to. She killed the monster. I may have loathed what she stood for, but I am not without respect for a warrior such as she was."

"Then – when will we invade?"

"In time. Days, months, maybe even eons after your bones have turned to dust. But out of respect for my long lost friend, and for this fallen warrior, I shall leave them alone. For now."

* * *

The funeral precession marched slowly down the streets of Metropolis. Superwoman's coffin, with an American flag draped over it. Gathered crowds watched as the coffin, sitting in a turn of the century horse drawn carriage, went along its way with the members of the league following behind it. All there were mourning the fallen hero, with several wearing her symbol in one way or another. Many of the children were wearing T-shirts with the symbol of the House of El, while several others were wearing the black armbands that the league members were wearing. One young man watched the procession as he rubbed the Superwoman symbol he had cut into his hair. He remembered when his apartment building on the East Side had caught fire. He and his little brother were trapped on the seventh floor, and the blaze prevented them from escaping. That was when Superwoman had torn down part of the wall and ceiling, and had rescued everyone that was still in the building.

Among the mourning crowds stood one man with a pair of oval glasses and wore a long black trench coat. While everyone there was looking at the passing casket with sadness, he looked at it and the crowd in disdain. He sulked backwards into the gathered mass until he was sure no one was paying attention to him. He reached into his coat, and pulled out a small bomb. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he tried to activate the timer.

"_The president of Kanad walks among them like he has every right. Well, now that ethnic oppressor will burn in hell for what he's done!"_ the man thought as he reached his arm back, ready to throw the bomb into the crowd. _"Now, you shall learn what its like to buu-" _"AAAGGGHHH!" he screamed as a nylon robe encircled him around his arm and forcefully yanked him upward to the roof of the building he had been standing I front of. After the world became a fast moving blur all around him, the next thing he saw was the face of a very angry bat.

"You better have a good reason for carrying a bomb in your pocket." The dark figure growled at the fidgeting man.

"I'm a patriot! I'm fighting the oppression of," the man's words were cut off as Batman firmly grasped him by his throat and pulled him closer. With a sneer, he began to squeeze.

"Innocents would have died."

"N-none are innocent if they harbor that monster!" the sputtered. With a low growl, Batman let the man go and watched as he began to fall back to the ground.

"NO! DON'T!" the man screamed as he fell before the rope grew taught and dislocated his shoulder. As the man winced in pain, he soon found himself facing the Batman once more. "Please – don't drop me."

"Don't tempt me. But since we're in Superwoman's town, I'm going to do it her way."

Minutes later, patrolling officers were stunned to see a man hanging from a flag pole with a sign that read "Arrest me, please." And as he swung by the rope he was tied with, he kept screaming for them to take him in before Batman came back. Soon, the procession finally reached the fully reconstructed Centennial Park where a large statue of Superwoman stood. At the base of the large statue, a wide opening stood for the coffin to be placed. As the carriage came to a stop, the same six that had carried her out of the chapel carried her to rest in front of the large opening. As they stepped aside and let the military soldiers lift and fold the flag, Wonder Woman couldn't help but see that the top of the coffin had the symbol of the house of El perfectly carved into it. Her heart seemed to sink even more as she began to dwell on the thought that she would never see her friend ever again.

Rain clouds began to gather as the gathered masses looked onward and saw another powerful figure walk next to the casket. But unlike the other figure's there, he had no superpowers. It was the President of the United States himself, accompanied by the First Lady. Both held a long stem rose in their hands as the President looked at those who had gathered so he could say his final goodbye.

"Today is a dark day in our world's history. As we lay our friend to rest, I am sure she would rather us be more concerned about the victim's of Doomsday's attack. But make no mistake that we will carry onward. In her memory, we will not stop until we find the survivors of this heinous attack and reunite them with their loved ones and lay the dead to rest. She gave the ultimate sacrifice for us, even though she did not have to. This woman, this hero, came from a distant galaxy in order to live. She had abilities that we only know of in legends, and she could have ruled the world if she wanted. Instead, she decided to selflessly use her gifts to save the countless many that she didn't even know. So it is today that I declare that Superwoman will forever be remembered as the World's Greatest Hero. And may we forever try to live up to her example." He said to the mass. The Fist Lady and himself turned toward the coffin, and gently laid the roses they were carrying on the top of the silver coffin. As they made their way back to their seats, several men of the cloth came and began to speak a passage from their hole texts one at a time. While these men read aloud, each member of the League that was present came to the silver coffin and placed a rose on the top of it.

About a mile from the entrance to Centennial Park, Monique stood with her best friend's family. Unable to get inside the park, they were forced to watch on one of the large flat screen monitor's. Jim, Tim, and Kal were weeping as they watched a Catholic Priest say a moment of prayer while Monique was holding Mrs. Possible as she cried uncontrollably. She couldn't imagine how hard this was for her.

"_This isn't right."_ Monique thought to herself. _"She should be up there with Kim right now. She deserves to say goodbye to her as much as anyone else. This just isn't right."_

Hidden in the shadows on the top of a near by rooftop, Ron watched the service in silence. As a Rabbi spoke in Hebrew to the mass, Ron closed his eyes and said a silent prayer himself. The moment to himself was short lived when he opened his eyes again.

"I'm surprised you're here." He growled.

"I thought members of the Justice League had to stick together." The woman said as she sat beside Batman. She wore a black body suit that was somewhat similar to Batman's. She wore dark purple knee high boots, dark purple gloves that went to her elbows, and a flowing dark purple cape. A dark purple mask hid her face from the world, and a crossbow hung from her own utility belt.

"If I remember correctly, you were fired from the Justice League; Huntress."

"Well – it doesn't mean I can't pay my last respects." She said to him. "But I thought you didn't come to things like this."

"My reasons are personal."

"Okay." She said as a moment of silence hung over them. "How come you were surprised that I showed up?" she asked.

"Because it was a well known fact that you and Superwoman didn't exactly see eye to eye, Ms. Rockwaller." He said as Huntress' eyes widened with surprise.

"How the hell did you,"

"I make it my business to know." He answered before she could finish her question.

"I saw you on TV. When she – I'm sorry. If it helps, I know what its like to loose someone you care about. Someone close."

"I don't mean any disrespect, but I know your history. I know why you were fired from the League, and your vendetta with Gotham's underworld. But you don't know the kind of loss I've suffered, or what I'm feeling. So with all do respect, back off." He growled before leaping off the building and disappearing into the concrete jungle around them.

Huntress looked back to the large screen and saw them carrying Kim's coffin into the tomb and easing it into the large stone slab. It wasn't hard to see how painful it was for everyone to see it, and even harder for those actually placing it inside the stone box. Once the coffin was placed inside, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel lifted the large stone slab that was its lid. As they set the large stone slab into position, the sound of it falling into place seemed to echo the sound of everyone's heart shattering. It was the final confirmation that Superwoman was gone and wouldn't be around to save them ever again. Huntress looked away as tears of her own formed and rolled down her face.

"Goodbye, Kim." She whispered before leaving.

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Monique asked as they all sipped a cup of coffee inside Kim's apartment while the cold rain poured outside.

"I wish I knew. It's like I'm numb inside." Mrs. Possible said as she sipped her coffee while Lois brewed another pot for all of them.

"I hate to bring this up, but we have a bigger question right now." Lois said as she waited impatiently listened to the pot.

"We do?" Jim asked.

"What question is that?" Tim asked.

"An important one." A voice growled, making them all turn to the balcony window. They were partially wet from being outside, but the taller still looked as terrifying as ever as Batman and Robin stepped forward. "She wants to know if we reveal Kim's secret or not."

It had been on just about everyone's mind. To let the world know that Kim Possible and Superwoman were the same person, or let the world continue thinking that they were two separate people. It would be harder on her family to hear constant updates that Kim's body still wasn't found. But what would happen if her secret was revealed. There were so many dangers and unknowns in that question alone that it was almost terrifying to think about.

"The answer's no." Monique said.

"Monique," Lois started.

"No, you listen. Think about what were asking. That secret is the only thing keeping her family safe. Look at that idiot Booster. HE doesn't even try to hide his secret, and several of his friends have been shot at by pissed of gangs alone. Not to mention that lunatic Devil Ray went after some of my designer friends because he wanted to tease me first."

"MONIQUE!" Anne shouted, silencing her for a moment. "It's my family's decision. And no, we're not going to reveal it. Not to make it easier on us." Andrea said.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Possible. I – I just,"

"I understand." She said before she took another sip and silence fell over them.

"I hate to admit this, but Miss Gough went all out for the funeral. She must have spent over half of her fortune on everything out there." Lois said.

"I bet Kim would have – would have enjoyed," Robin tries to say, but couldn't. It just hurt too much to say it.

"They didn't bury Kim out there." Batman growled.

"Ron, were you blind? We saw it. That was Kim in the coffin." Jim said.

"No. They buried Superwoman today, not Kim. We never got to say our goodbyes to her." He said as he looked outside the window.

"He's right. That service had nothing to do with Kim at all." Lois said, voicing her opinion.

"So what do we do?"

"We can't expose her secret." Jim and Tim said.

"Then we hold our own service; everyone who knew her well. And we'll hold it in Middleton. That way we can finally say goodbye to her our way." Mrs. Possible said.

"When do you want to do it?" Batman asked.

**

* * *

**

Middleton, Colorado. Two days later.

Anne kept biting her lower lip as she sat on her daughter's old bed with the box sitting in her lap. The idea was to find several of Kim's most prized possessions that she grew up with, and bury them in the backyard of her home. So many memories were in this house, and in this room. As soon as she had entered her daughter's room, she couldn't bring her self to do it. It felt like a part of her daughter was still alive in here. It felt like some part of her was trying to tell her that Kim was going to come home any minute. But she knew that wasn't true. She had seen her daughter die on the television, and she was there when her body was put into that tomb in Metropolis. But she could still see her daughter sitting with her, wanting to tell her the surprise she wanted to tell all of them. She could still even remember the day her and James had found her like it had been only yesterday. It was when they were at that cabin near the Rockies and her ship came crashing towards them. It was such a surprise and a shock when she saw that little baby inside the rocket. As far as she knew, that rocket was still in the basement of that cabin right now.

"Anne?"

She hadn't expected anyone yet. When she heard her name being called, it startled her for a moment. As she looked up, she was surprised to see Ronald standing next to her.

"I didn't expect you for another hour." Anne said as she tried to straighten herself.

"I wanted to get here early. In case if you needed any help." Ron said as he sat down next Anne.

"This is harder than I thought it would be. I never expected this to happen, Ronald. Never. No parent ever plans to out live their child." Anne said as she looked at the empty box in her hands.

"What about burying your child," Ron started, and did his best not to cry in front of the woman that was like a second mother to him. The woman that would have become his – that is his mother-in-law. He didn't need a ceremony to tell him that. "What about burying your child – before it even had a chance to live?" he finally asked her.

"What?"

"Kim told me before she died. It was the surprise she wanted to tell the both of us that weekend." Ron said as his voice began to waver.

"She was?"

"Yes." Ron whispered as his face became twisted in pain and anguish once more. "I shouldn't have told you. I – it's just that – I lost my child too, Anne. I lost my child before I became a father and I don't know what to do. I'm so God damn angry that I can't take it." Ron said as he balled his fists again. His anger began to slightly cool when he saw Anne hold one of his fists in her hands.

"I don't know what to do either, Ronald. I'm living this one day at a time. It hurts to find out that – that I lost a grandchild. But I'm glad you told me, Ron. For years, one of our fears was that Kim couldn't have children. But now I know, she would have." Anne told him.

"I miss her, Anne. I miss her so much." Ron said as she held onto him tightly. So many were loosing their way. The world was already starting to slip back into its horrible state before Kim had donned her uniform, and Ron was a mess. What they needed now was some kind of miracle to set the wrong things right.

An hour later, Kim's closest loved ones were gathered in the backyard of the Possible family home. It hadn't taken long to make the hole, but it had taken the longest time to gather what was to be put into the box. So each of the gathered had helped to decide what was to be placed in honor of their friend's memory. Wade had placed her first Kimmunicator into the box. It was the first gadget he had ever made for her and meant a great deal to him. Jim and Tim had placed the controller they created to fry the mind control chips Drakken had placed on her and Shego. It was the first time they had saved their sister on one of her missions, and one of their fondest memories. Bonnie, to everyone's surprise, had placed a sheet of paper inside. When asked, it turned out to be the roster she had made for who would make the cheer squad back in middle school. It was the same day she started saving others because it was the right thing to do.

Josh, always the sentimental type, placed two ticket stubs. He had saved the ticket stubs of the movie he and Kim went to see on their first date. Even his wife Tara looked at him oddly when he revealed that fact. He said it was because of the weird ninjas they kept running into that night, but they still weren't sure. Diana had brought the helmet she had worn to disguise herself with during the competition on Themyscira. It was Kim's idea in the first place, and she wouldn't have ever left the island if she had not suggested it. Shayera had placed a medal she had earned on her home world for bravery, but still thought it wasn't enough. She just wished she could have placed something more meaningful instead. Will Du had tossed in one of Duff Killigan's old gold ball's that had been long since disarmed. To commemorate the memory of when he was forced to work with her so long ago. J'onn placed his old Gotham City detective's badge inside. When he became the Martian Manhunter, he had been spending so much time in the Watchtower that he gave up his old job. But he was seriously thinking about rejoining once again. To honor her memory, he wanted to do more than just stop crime when he was in his Martian form. Ron had decided to place two things into the box. The first was the digital photo album Kim had made for him years ago. It was the year they had canceled Snowman Hank, and the year they spent Christmas in peace with Drakken and Shego. That one was very strange. Anne was the last, and it was the hardest for her to choose. In the end, she placed Kim's stuffed animal Pandaroo. That seemed to hit her closest friends the most, to see Anne place one of her most cherished items into the box.

"If anyone has anything to say, now's the time to say it." Wade said to them.

"I have something." Bonnie said. "I know I was a total bitch to her. As a matter of fact, I was a bitch to a lot of people. But I was always mad at her. Because everything she did came so easily, and I had to work beyond what I was capable just to catch up to her. It wasn't until after we graduated that I realized I was improving myself by having to push myself. So, I – I never thought I'd say this – Thank you, Kim. You helped me become who I am. Thanks." Bonnie said as she looked down.

"Kim helped discover many things about us. She also helped us in more ways than one. What everyone said was true. We will never be able to forget, nor replace her." Diana said.

"I just wish I could wave a magic wand and make this go away." Josh said to himself.

"All of us do." Shayera said.

"I have seen many things in my life. I've also seen wonders I never thought I would ever see. But out of all the things I have seen and done, I can only say this about my friend. Out of all the creatures and people I have met, she was the most – human." J'onn said with nothing but praise in his voice.

After giving a moment of silence, Kal and Ron placed the lid on the box and sealed it closed. Jim and Tim had designed it especially for this occasion, and knew it would stand against the elements and preserve what was inside of it. Ron and Kal slowly set the box into the hole, and buried it into the Earth. Ron bowed his head lower as he watched it disappear from sight. He turned away as he felt tears began making themselves known again. He hadn't cried this much since his parents passed away. As Ron turned away from the crowd and looked up, his eyes widened in disbelief. In the driveway, wearing her green tank top and blue jeans, was Kim.

"KP?" he asked himself. As he kept watching, he could see her wave at him and begin to run off down the street. "KP? Kim, wait. WAIT!" he shouted and bolted after her.

AS he reached the street, he looked in the direction he had seen her take off in, but he couldn't see anything. Was he seeing things? Or had he finally snapped? He was so confused. He could have sword he had just seen her. He could almost,

"Ron?"

Ron looked down the street again, and saw that she was on the corner. Whenever he was running late for school, she would always wait for him on that corner. But could it really be her?

"Hurry up, slow poke!" she called out to him and began running down the street once again.

"KIM, WAIT!" he called out and began running as fast as he could. He paid no attention as he ran down the street, or to the traffic. He kept trying to catch up, but she had a head start. Every so often he would loose sight of her, but then he would catch her again. It was like she was trying to make him follow her. But where? "KIM!" he called out as he came to a stop at a small gas station. Where was he? Why was she doing this? God, could she really be alive? "KP!" he shouted.

"Ron?" Ron quickly turned and saw her standing beside a tree that was across the street, and on the other side of a chain link fence. It looked like she was in some sort of playground. But why would she be in there? "I'm over here." She said to him to him with a smile.

Ron took of across the street as fast as he could, narrowly missing two cars that were driving down the street. Ron was soon on the other side and half climbed, half leapt over the fence. As he landed onto the ground, he saw her duck behind the tree she had been standing beside. "Kim, wait!" he called as he tried to cut her off, but saw nothing. "No. No, it was real. I saw her right here. She was – she was real." Ron said as he looked all over the area for her. When he saw where he was, he did an immediate double take. A minute ago, this playground looked in almost immaculate shape. Now it was in disrepair. The grass was long and overgrown, and it looked like no one had been playing on it for years. What was worse was that he had been here before. It had been so many years ago, when he was younger. It was where he and Kim first met.

As he felt his knees buckle, he felt his damn of emotions break once again. He was mad, heartbroken, and depressed all at once. He had lost the love of his life, he had lost his child, he had lost everything he held dear to him. As he buried his face in the dirt at the base of the tree, he felt something. Something rather strange. He opened his tear covered eyes and looked. His hand had dug into the dirt and had found a hair braid. As he looked at it more closely, he knew it belonged to. It was one of Kim's. During their first week of Pre-K, under this very tree, they had been playing hide and go seek. Kim had stumbled and lost one of her hair braids. No matter how hard they looked, they never could find it. Now, after all these years, it was still here. He pulled himself upward, but remained on his knees. As he held the braid in his hand, he felt the sun began to beat down on him. Like someone was giving him one last caress. As he looked up into the sky, he could smell her, almost feel her with him.

"_Thanks for saving me. I was fixing to have to sick Rufus on them."_

"_Who's Rufus?"_

"_He's my imaginary friend. He's huge."_

"_You're weird. But I like you."_

"Goodbye, Kim. I'll always love you." Ron said one last time. No sooner had he said those words, the smell and the feeling went away and the clouds hid the sun from sight.

Ron held the hair braid tightly as he stood to his feet and climbed the tree until he reached one of the top branches and sat on it. He remained in the tree for the rest of the day and into the night. He didn't want to have anything to do with anyone or anything at that moment. Now it truly felt like Kim was gone. He was still wide awake when the curtain of night had fallen and the moon was high. And he was wide awake when he heard someone walking toward him.

"Bro? Where are you?" Ron heard Hanna calling. Ron took one more deep breath before he leapt out of the tree and landed on his feet. As soon as he had landed, he saw his sister rushing towards him as fast as she could.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Everyone's been worried about you!" Hanna shouted at him.

"Sorry. I needed time to clear my head." Ron said as he looked at her.

"Clear your head? I bet there's enough room now to fit what's left of the tumbler in there!" she said sarcastically and glanced at where they were standing. "What were you doing here?" she asked him.

"This is where KP and I first met. We were in Pre-K together, and she saved my butt from a bunch of bullies."

"Doesn't sound surprising." Hanna said with a smirk as Ron took a good look at her. "What is it?" she asked him as her concern began to rise.

"Nothing. I just noticed – that you're growing up on me is all." He said with a shaky chuckle and looked down at the hair braid in his hands. "This was Kim's too. I just found it after she lost it when we were five. You know, I think she would have wanted you to have it." Ron said as he reached over, and used the braid to put Hanna's long black hair into a pony tail. Despite the dirt that was still on it, it really did suit her.

"Ready to head back yet?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Let's get going." He said as he put his arm around her and hugged her firmly. _"I will always love you, Kim. Now and forever."_ Ron thought to himself as they left.


	7. Tale of the Body Thief

**Authpr's Note(s):** Sorry I've been gone for so long. I hit a bit of a low point for a little bit. And believe it or not, what got me out of it was reading the Twilight book series. Now I've got several ideas floating around, and I'm still trying to work on my other stories. So sit back and enjoy.

Dedicated to the memory of Commander Argus.

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

He couldn't help but let out a deep breath as he looked at the large statue in front of him as he went along his beat. The city had placed a few spot lights all around it to keep the statue lit during the night, and the base was still covered in flowers, candles, notes, and so many other things that were dedicated to Superwoman. It was two in the morning, five days after they put her in the tomb. The crowds hadn't stopped coming, but they usually thinned out by this late at night. Or should he say this early in the morning? Whatever it was. He had been an officer for several years, and he never felt this depressed while walking along a patrol route. It was hard for him to believe that she was buried in the statue's base. He had gotten to meet her several times in the past, and it looked like nothing could hurt her. And now – talk about crap hitting the fan.

After popping his neck, he took a quick walk over toward the statue and looked at some the flowers and candles. Many were Catholic candles while others had color themes of blue, yellow, and red. He looked upward at the statue and saw that it was Superwoman posed with her hands on her hips, looking at the city. Almost like she was still watching over it. It just didn't feel right that she was gone. Like it was a sick cosmic practical joke. He turned around so he could finish his patrol, and was surprised at what he saw. There was a small group of people, dressed in blue robes with Superwoman's shield on the chest. All of them were on their knees and bowing to the statue. He could hear them mumbling something as they kept their faces pressed against the cobblestone sidewalk. It took him a minute, but he realized that they were saying prayers. What the hell was going on?

"Dispatch, this is officer Keel. I'm at Centennial Park, and I've got several whack jobs in Superwoman robes saying prayers to the statue." He said into his radio.

"_Copy, Keel. Those are Superwoman cultists. As long as they don't hurt anyone, just leave them alone."_

"Superwoman cultists?" Keel asked.

"_Apparently, they think Superwoman was the messiah. To them, it's Jesus Christ all over again."_ The operator said.

"Then shouldn't she have already have risen from the dead?" he asked himself as he took on more glance at the statue, and then at the cultists. "Here's hoping nothing bad happens." He said as he turned and began to walk off.

The ground shuddered violently as what sounded like a muffled explosion echoed, making the officer almost fall. The people that were still in the park, including the cultists, all fell to the ground from the tremor as car alarms began blaring all over. The officer quickly turned back to the statue, trying to figure what had just happened. That's when he noticed what looked like smoke coming from one of the seams of the tomb's entrance. Whatever had just happened had ruptured the tomb's seal and was coming from inside the tomb. Did they bury her alive?

"This Officer Keel at Centennial Park. I have a major disturbance inside the tomb. I need back up!" he said into his radio.

"_Did you just say you had a disturbance at the tomb?"_

"No, _inside_ it! Sounds like someone set a bomb off inside it!"

* * *

Merci enjoyed the cold glass as it pressed against her forehead. Sherri had fallen asleep some time ago, and it looked like it was a peaceful one. Merci tried to understand her relationship with Superwoman, but still couldn't. It had disturbed her when her boss had begun sleeping with the hero's clone, but she could forgive that. Sherri finally came back to her, and she was happy. Even is she hadn't come back to her, she would never leave her. Before Sherri had found her, she was living on the streets and out of dumpsters. Like a mongrel dog. But Sherri had found her, trained her, and helped her.

As she watched her employer and secret lover sleep, her eyes narrowed when she heard the phone begin to buzz. She hated hearing that thing so late at night. Even the ringer that the phone had was annoying to her. It sounded like a computer version of a swallow being strangled. Whoever it was, she would just brush them off quickly. Sherri needed the rest if she was going to try and be her old self again.

"Miss Gough's office. I'm sorry to tell that – James?" Sherri asked as she realized the voice on the other end was the head of their R & D department. What on Earth was he doing calling Sherri for? "James, do you know what time it is? I swear to God that I'm going to – what? You're joking. Okay, give me a minute." Mercy said as she hung up the phone.

Mercy went to one of the large windows that overlooked Metropolis, and placed her thumb against a small rectangle that was on the right edge of the large glass. A computer interface immediately emerged on the glass that listed several options and functions. Mercy instantly began touching menu options and sliding different displays around in a smooth blur of motion like she was doing an exotic dance. Soon, the information was displayed in front of her. As she examined the readings, her brow furrowed in confusion at what she was seeing.

"Sherri? Sherri, wake up." Merci said as she walked over to her boss gently shook her bare shoulder.

"You can't be ready for another go again." Sherri said as she began to wake up.

"No, Sherri. One of our tech guys just called. Over half the sensors we placed inside Superwoman's tomb just went off line."

"Do what?" Sherri asked as she sat up.

"They tried to reboot them, but it looked like they were destroyed. I checked myself, and there's nothing coming in from them. We also just intercepted a police transmission. They think a bomb was just set off inside the tomb."

"Son of a bitch!" Sherri said as she threw the covers off and stomped toward her closet. "Get Betty on the phone right now. I don't care who's idea of a sick joke this is. Once I find them, I'm going to burn their eyes out!" Sherri said to her as she began to throw on a black cat suit.

"What do you want me to tell her, Sherri?"

"Tell her what you just told me, and I'll meet her at the tomb.

"Why?" Mercy asked.

"Back up. If someone's trying to destroy Kim's body, I'm going to go greet them with a Magnum up my sleeve." Sherri growled.

* * *

Lois was sipping her fourth cup of coffee as she tried to find something on TV that wasn't too depressing. Everything she had seen was either about Kim's past adventures, the way things were falling to pot without her, or the stupid tabloid garbage. Hell, there was a Kim look-a-like saying she was Superwoman's secret daughter! Her daughter?! The woman looks more like Kim's older sister! Lois couldn't even imagine how hard this was on Kim's family. It was hard for her to work at the Planet now. Every time she glanced at Kim's desk, it was always empty. She was so used to seeing her there, working on a story. She also missed it when Kim was making up some lame excuse so she could slip into the janitor's closet. She was so lucky no one ever caught her slipping into that thing and changing. It just wasn't the same without her friend. Miss Possible and her kids had returned to Metropolis and were at Kim's place again, so they could clear out Kim's place.

This had to be a living nightmare for them. Lois didn't even want to imagine what it was like to be in her position. When ever her father, General Sam Lane, had to be shipped out, her mother, her sister Lucy, and herself would worry until they received word that he was on his way home. But the closest thing she had lost to a family member were their family pets. But this was – she hated feeling this torn up inside. Truthfully, this just completely pissed her off! What she wouldn't give for a distraction right now.

"_This is Lane, you know what to do."_ Her machine said before it gave out that annoying beep. She knew there was voice mail and other advanced phones, but she stuck with the machine. That way, she had a way of proving she wasn't a crack pot is she got a tip or an obnoxious phone call.

"_LOIS! PICK UP!" _Jimmy shouted, causing her to roll her eyes. Did that kid ever sleep? _"Lois, I hope you had your police scanner on; because there's something big going down at Superwoman's tomb. I don't know what it is, but police and Global Justice are going ape shit!"_ Jimmy shouted before Lois snatched the phone off its cradle and hit the talk button.

"Jimmy, get your camera ready and meet me outside the Daily Planet." Lois said to him as she rushed to her room and started dragging out a black sweater and a black pair of broken in jeans.

"_So the worm's turned and you're not mopping around anymore?"_ Jimmy asked her, glad to finally hear Lois in a better mood.

"The worn has turned, Jimmy; and it's packing an oozy." She said as she cut the phone off and tied her hair in a pony tail. The real Lois Lane was back.

* * *

"I hope you pulled a good cover story out your ass to keep this place sealed off." Sherri said as she and Dr. Director watch the police and GJ agents make sure the area was secure.

"I do it everyday. The cover story is a ruptured gas line that wasn't found in earlier sweeps. We've got the whole block cleared and taped off." Dr. Director said as her men finished setting the equipment in place to remove the tomb's door.

"Do you have any idea who would want to screw with Kim's tomb?" Sherri asked the woman next to her.

"I've got an idea, but I hope I'm wrong."

"And if you're not?" Sherri asked her.

"Then I'm going to have a pair of testicles as a new set of ear rings." Betty said as the men signaled they were good to go. "Are you still good with those plasma powers?"

"I can put a plasma torch to shame."

"Then get ready to use it. OPEN IT!" Betty called out.

Both stood anxiously as they watched the machinery at work. The large device slid three bards through the seams where the vault door had once been sealed. One at the top, one on the left, and one on the right. As soon all three were slid into place, the hydraulics kicked into place and allowed the bars to gain a full and tight grip on the vault door. Dr. Director gave a curt nod as she saw the agents take several steps backwards. The engine on the machine began to rev and lurched forward with a tremendous force, pulling the door free and allowing the smoke that had been trapped to escape. GJ agents with fire extinguishers and gas masks immediately entered the tomb and began spraying hotspots to try and clear the way for the rest to enter. After a few moments of waiting, the agents exited the tomb and removed their masks.

"DIRECTOR! YOU'LL WANT TO SEE THIS!" one shouted out to her. Within a few moments, both Betty Director and Sherri Gough entered the tomb.

* * *

"What do you think is going on?" Jimmy asked as he zoomed in on the busy scene and started snapping photos.

"I don't know, but keep your voice down." Lois said as she watched the scene unfold. As they watched, they could see several uniformed people going in and out of the tomb at break neck speeds. Was that fire extinguishers they were carrying inside.

"Lois, am I crazy or is Miss Gough standing out there?" Jimmy asked her.

"I can't tell. She's so pale, that I'm not sure." Lois said as she kept watching. She heard someone shout something from inside the tomb, and saw Miss Gough walk into the tomb with another woman with short brown hair. As Miss Gough moved into the tomb, she was able to get a clearer look at the woman with her, and her eyes bolted open. She _knew_ that woman.

"Lois?" Jimmy asked as he noticed the look on her face.

"I don't believe it. That's Betty Director out there with them."

"How can you be sure?"

"She's one of the few people my dad's still friends with. If she's down here herself, that means something big is going on." Lois said to herself when she remembered how much of a hard ass her father, General Sam Lane, could be.

"But who is she?"

"She's the head of Global Justice, kid. She's the one giving all the orders." Lois said to him.

"So if the head of Global Justice itself is down here," Jimmy started.

"Then something is definitely up." Lois finished for him as she watched everyone around Superwoman's tomb.

"Lois?" Jimmy asked her.

"Jimmy, keep quiet!" Lois snapped.

"Lois?"

"Do you want us to get caught?"

"I think it's too late for that." Jimmy said as Lois felt a strong hand grip her painfully by the back of her neck.

"Ah, damn it." Lois cursed under her breath as she was roughly yanked to her feet.

* * *

It seemed like it had only been yesterday that Sherri was here and watching them seal her friend inside this crypt. Now what they both saw in front made their jaws drop with shock. Part of the floor and the lower half of the back wall was gone with black scorch marks all over the place. The stone case that Superwoman's coffin had been sitting in was utterly destroyed, and the coffin itself was gone. Sherri's lip was forming into a sneer as her fists balled and were starting to ignite.

"You're the great military leader, Betty Spaghetti. What do we do now?" Sherri asked, her voice was dripping with venom.

"We go in and find out who's stupid enough to pull a stunt like this." Betty said.

"Ma'am!" a soldier shouted as he marched inside.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"We've just captured two trespassers. One claims to know you." He reported to his superior.

"Can she back that claim up?" Betty asked.

"She mentioned something about calling a General Hard Ass, ma'am." He said to her.

Sherri raised one eyebrow as Betty thought for a moment and groaned loudly to herself. Her curiosity only perked as she saw Betty close her one good eye and pinch the bridge of her nose. "I'm guessing that means something?" Sherri asked her.

"Yeah. They caught the daughter of my former C.O. snooping around. Bring Lois Lane and her friend in here." Betty said to the soldier.

"Yes, ma'am!" the soldier said and marched out.

"Are you crazy? Lois is one of the biggest pain in the ass reporters in Metropolis. We bring her in here, we're screwed at trying to keep this a secret!" Sherri growled.

"Trust me on this one, glow worm." Betty said as she looked ahead as the auburn haired reported and the freckle faced cameraman were dragged into the tomb. As soon as the two new arrivals saw what was in front of them, both stared blankly in shock. Slowly, the brunette turned to face Betty with her rage rising so high that her forehead should be flashing the word Tilt. Suddenly, Betty felt like she was looking at her former commanding officer all over again. "It's been a long time, Lois."

"What the hell happened, Betty?" Lois demanded. Even her voice was starting to sound like her father's.

"Classified." Betty said.

"Classified my ass! Someone stole Superwoman's body!" Jimmy shouted.

"No shit, Sherlock." One of the officers mumbled.

"STUFF IT, SOLDIER!" Betty shouted.

"Yes, ma'am." The soldier replied quickly and stiffened.

"Betty, what the hell happened?" Lois asked her.

"Like she said, it's classified." Sherri said as she began to walk to the large hole in the ground.

"Lane, I need to keep you quiet." Betty said to her.

"Like hell I am. Do you think,"

"LOIS!" Betty shouted, finally getting her attention. "If word gets out about what's happened before we know anything, there's going to be a panic. Possibly a full scale riot, and it'll most likely come cultists out there." Betty said.

"Those people in the blue Superwoman robes? Come on! There's not that many of them." Jimmy said.

"That's what you think. They're all over the world, and a large number of them are coming here as we speak."

"How large?" Sherri asked her.

"Half the size of the crowd at the 1969 Woodstock concert." She said, with the eyes of Sherri, Lois, Jimmy, and a few of her soldiers went wide.

"Why are they coming here?" Jimmy asked her.

"Because they think Superwoman the second coming of the Messiah. Like Jesus Christ, they think she'll rise from the dead and carry on her fight against crime. If they find her body is missing," Betty said.

"Then they'll think she's alive. We'll have a mass hysteria." Sherri groaned to herself. "Okay Lane. Let's get this straight. I hate you, and you hate me. But if we can put a lid on this for a little bit until we find out what's going on, we may be able to avoid a panic." Sherri said to Lois.

"I get the idea. All right, Betty; my lips are sealed. But who did this?" Lois asked her.

"That's what we're fixing to find out. Sergeant! You're with me and Miss Gough! INTO THE HOLE, DOUBLE TIME!" Betty shouted as she, Sherri, and several GJ agents began marching into the large hole in the ground.

"What do we do know, Lois?" Jimmy asked her.

"We wait." She said.

**

* * *

**

Arkham Asylum

So far, everything actually seemed quiet enough in the nut house. Of course, that wasn't ever a good sign. For almost ten years he had been a guard here, and he had done his best to not piss off any of the inmates here. He had seen several up close and didn't like what he saw. Killer Croc was the one that gave him nightmares the most, but the Joker was the one that really scared him to death. That pale skin and his mouth always fixed in the smile. You never knew what that lunatic was thinking.

Speak of the devil, he walking past his cell right then. He didn't know why some of these cells for the more dangerous criminals looked like the ones from Silence of the Lambs. When they rebuilt the place after that alien attack, they made sure these criminals couldn't harm anyone else. Each cell had a separate ventilation system than the asylums main shafts, and the large glass wall that looked into their cell was made of missile proof glass. The doors needed both a thumbprint and a retinal scan of authorized personnel.

He looked inside the Joker's cell and saw him laying in the hospital bed they put in there, with him also hooked up to an IV and heart monitor. He was bandaged up pretty good, and was finally asleep. He had been screaming every so often about nightmares of a giant bat ripping his throat out. Whatever Batman did to him wasn't enough. He liked how Batman had taken off the kid gloves, but he honestly thought the Bat should have carved a smile on that pale son of a bitch's throat. He forced himself to look away and travel onward. The less time he spent around these lunatics the better.

After checking most of the cell blocks, he soon found himself checking the various labs in the rebuilt portion of the asylum. He had to admit, even though they kept this place cleaner than a preacher's sheets, he preferred the new labs. They were brand new and brighter than the rest of the asylum. The rest was old and faded. It almost looked like Count Dracula's summer cottage. Great, he had to go and think about the one thing that used to scare him as a little kid. He didn't know why, but every time he saw the black and white movie with that actor dressed in the costume and make-up always scared the living piss out of him. Even today, he always felt a chill run down his spine when he thought of that character. He didn't want to think about him now. He only had a few more labs to check and he could go back to the guard station to take his break while the rookie took over his patrol.

As he walked further down the hall, he thought he heard something. It sounded like whistling, but most of the doctors were supposed to have gone home for the night. Wait a minute. What was that song they were singing? He knew the doctors here would hum or something, but they wouldn't ever whistle a song. Especially this song that he heard. Whoever it was in one of these labs was whistling The Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil." But what if it wasn't a doctor? What if it was an inmate? He swallowed the lump that was stuck in his throat and slowly withdrew his nightstick as he came closer to the lab where the whistling was coming from. He came to the door and took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he reached for the knob and turned it. He opened the door slowly with his night stick raised, and was surprised by who he saw.

"Dr. Quinzel?" he asked the blond woman as she sat in front of a microscope.

"Hmm? Oh, hello Mike." She said as she looked up for a moment over her wire framed glasses.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were suspended." He asked her.

"I was, but they're letting me finish some last minute paper work before I leave." She said to him in a cool, calm, and confident voice.

"Oh. Well, sorry to see you leave." He said, but still felt a little uneasy. She was a sweet kid, but he remembered some of the times he thought he saw her leave the Joker's cell with her clothes and her hair a little disheveled. He had also heard about the break down she had when Batman threw the Joker through the skylight and the guards drag him off. "If you don't mind, I'd like to call and make sure it's okay for you to be here." He said to her as he reached for his walkie-talkie.

"Sure, Mike; I don't mind. But could I get your opinion?" she asked him.

"Sure, I guess." He said to her.

"I've been looking at this sample and I don't know how to describe it. Could you take a look?" she asked him.

"Doc, I'm not really into science and all that. I wouldn't know what to tell you." He said to her.

"I've already identified it, I just need a good description of it. Please?" she said as she gave him a small pout. He always was a sucker for a woman in need.

"All right." He said as he walked to the table as she stood to the side. "What do you want me to do?" he asked as he sat on the stool she had previously occupied.

"Just look through the eye piece and tells me what it looks like." She said to him.

Mike leaned in closer and pressed his eye into the eyepiece. He squinted his only open eye, but he couldn't really make out anything. Everything was nothing but a big giant blur to him.

"I can't make it out, Doc." He said to her.

"I had it set to me. Just spin the knob at the bottom of the scope to focus it." She said to him as she removed her lab coat and glasses.

"The big knob here?"

"Yup." She said as she opened her purse and removed several pieces of make-up and a pair of black leather gloves.

She heard the knob clicking as she put the gloves on, and slowly started smiling as she listened. Mike kept turning the knob until the image began to focus. When it did, he was confused at what he was looking at. It was a phrase that said "Made You Look."

There was a click and a sharp snap, along with a sickening wet sound as Mike started screaming and fell off the stool and onto the floor. When Dr. Quinzel turned around, she saw Mike was still screaming as he held a hand up against his right eye with blood oozing between his fingers and down his hand and face. From out of the microscope eyepiece was the blood-covered blade of an exacto knife. With a small smile on her face, she kneeled down beside Mike and grabbed him firmly by his throat.

"Growing up, my mom always told me to never run around with scissors." She said as she held up a large pair of slightly rusted stainless steel scissors. "Too bad I never listened."

* * *

"_ACCESS GRANTED."_ The computer said in its digital monotone voice as the door slid open with a small hiss. The Joker woke with a start as he looked at the entrance to his cell, and saw a shadow standing in the doorway to his cell. His blood was running cold as the figure stood there, not moving.

"How ya doin, Mr. J?" the figure asked in a high voice. It took him a moment to recognize the voice's owner.

"Harlene?" he asked the figure.

"Actually," she said as she stepped into the light of his cell. Her long blonde hair had been messily cut into a strange pixie cut, with her face caked in white make up and black paint around her eyes that was still dripping; making it seem as if she were wearing a domino mask. Her full lips were covered in black cherry colored lipstick as she wore a very tight sweater that had been tailored into a harley-quinn style design while she still wore the black leather gloves as she clutched something in each hand. She wore a pair of what looked to be black spandex pants with combat boots covering her feet. "The name's Harley, Mr. J. Harley Quinn." She said with a wide smile as she came to his bed and began undoing the straps that held him in place.

"I like the change, Harley. But how did you get in?" he asked her.

"Oh, I asked a guard nicely. But he gave me the finger." She said as she held up her left hand, and revealed a severed finger in her palm that was still bleeding. "And you know what they say. An eye for an eye." She said as she held up her left hand, revealing a broken scissors blade with a bloody blue eye sitting on it like a pike.

Joker was shocked to see the sudden change in the timid doctor he was so used to seeing during his therapy sessions. Now that small little mouse was gone and replaced by a vicious little snake that had eaten her whole. He started out small at first, joining in with her fits of giggles. But then it started to grow louder and louder. Even as the escaped the asylum and disappeared into the night, Gotham City echoed with insane and cold laughter as the Joker and his assistant set out to take back the night.

* * *

Ron sat at the computer in deep thought as Wade and Hannah worked on the new tumbler. The lab had already been rebuilt, and several of the bat-suits were already replaced with brand new ones that were almost better then the previous ones. Ron glanced over at his friend and his little sister and flinched slightly when he saw that Hannah was wearing her black hair in a ponytail, with Kim's hair band that he found at their old pre-school. He turned back to the computer and began monitoring the police networks, looking for anything to keep him occupied and to keep him thinking about other things.

Several times, he had sworn he had seen Kim either in the mansion or in the cave. Every time he got close to her, she disappeared. He could almost swear he was going insane. Was he that desperate to have her in his life, or to at least see her again? This just didn't make any since to him. Maybe this was how Bella felt in the book New Moon. Somehow he felt like he was in the same boat that character had been. He'd do just about anything to see her face or to hear her voice again. God, he needed Kim so much.

"Ron, are you okay?" Wade asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ron said automatically.

"Han and I have been calling you for several minutes and"

"What is it, Wade?" he asked, wanting him to cut to the chase.

"The Tumbler's almost ready, but we won't be able to finish it until the last few parts arrive." He said to him. "We just wanted to let you know we're going to turn in and call it a day." Wade said.

"See you then." Ron said as he opened a file folder and read its contents.

Ron listened as he heard the footsteps of both Wade and Hanna leave the cave and up the stairs to library in the manor above. As soon as he heard the door to the library open and close, he dropped the folder back onto the side desk and began covering his face with his hands. He had to do something to keep his mind off of this. He had t distract himself with something. What was he talking about? Of course he had something. He had been doing it for years now. But Dick wasn't back yet. Maybe he should wait for Dick to get back from the study group he had joined so they can both go out on patrol together. That was a good idea, he didn't need to be alone and start hallucinating when he was wearing the mask.

"Ron, you can't keep on ignoring me." She said to him. He could hear her and smell her walking in front of him from behind.

"Oh God, I'm doing it again." He groaned through his hands.

I thought you liked it when we hung out. Or do you prefer to go to Bueno Nacho?" She asked him. "Please, look at me." She said.

He could actually feel her hands on his. The force she was using to try and lower his hands away. Slowly, he lowered his hands and silently groaned to himself as he saw the red hair, then the green eyes, and her whole face. His heart felt relief that he saw her again, but anguish at the same time because he knew he wasn't really seeing her.

"Why do you hate me?" she asked him.

"I don't hate Kim. But I hate you because I know you're not my Kim. You're something my mind is making up." He growled at the image in front of him.

"You don't know that, Ron." She said.

"Please don't do this to me. I can't stand the pain enough as it is. I'm lucky I haven't snapped again. Don't do this to me, I can't take it. Please Kim, just tell me if you're really here." He said to her as he tried to hold back the pain and the sobs that were building.

Then he felt her warm soft lips on his, trying to capture his desperately. He could feel her weight on him and feel the warmth of her skin surround him as she locked her arms around his neck. Not wanting to loose her, not being able to stand to be without her, he grasped her tightly in his arms and returned the kiss as passionately as he could. He needed this, he needed her. Just one night with her, please God. That's all he needed.

"I'm always with you." She said breathlessly as they broke their kiss.

"Don't go. Please don't leave me, I need you." He begged her as he held her tighter.

"Ron." She whispered in his ear. It almost sounded like she was trying her best not to cry as well. "Wake up." She whispered to him.

"NO!" Ron shouted as he bolted up from his chair and saw the cave was dark.

The file he had been looking at had fallen on the floor, and the computer was still scanning. He looked at the clock and saw he had been out for over half an hour. His breathing began to become faster as his fists balled tightly and he began to shake. He ground his teeth together as his eyes began to glaze over with a red tint. With a shout of anger, he bashed in the side interface panel of the large super computer and watched it spark. It had happened again. He couldn't take this anymore. It was like she was really here, every time. What was going on with him?

"Stoppable-san?" a very delicate voice asked behind him. He knew this voice too, but it wasn't Kim. This was someone else. Someone he had been trying to find for weeks before Kim had died. Ron spun around and was shocked to see who was standing not too far from the new Tumbler.

"Yori?" he asked as he slowly stood to his face. As soon as he was sure who she was, he immediately slipped into his Batman mode. What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"To explain my reasons." She said to him.

"You joined the League of Shadows and became an assassin. Who gives a damn at what you care about." Ron growled as he marched past her toward the vault of new bat suits.

"YOU CARE!" Yori shouted at him, causing him to stop.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't put you in cuffs right now." He growled at her.

"Because I came here to beg you."

"Beg?" Ron asked in confusion. "Beg for what?"

"Protection, Stoppable-San." She answered simply and looked at the floor of the batcave in shame, trying to avoid his gaze.

"You join the League of Shadows, and now you want protection from it?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Not for me, Ron-san." She said to him in almost a whisper.

Ron-san? She never called him that the whole time they knew each other. Not even when he went to Japan to finish his training, or when they almost became lovers. Something was wrong here.

"Yori, what's going on?" He asked her.

"I have been a member of the League since my birth. I never had a choice." She said to him.

"Of course you have a choice. You've always had a choice. Just because your parents were members,"

"Only my father was a member. And it is because of his influence over the League that I am bound to it." Yori said to him.

Ron had been told a long time ago that Yori's parents were members of the League of Shadows, but none of them had influence over it. It didn't make any sense to him though. How could her father have any influence over the League? The only person that had any sort of influence – was –

"Oh God, Yori. Please, don't let it be true." Ron said as he fully turned to face her and saw the despair and hopelessness in her eyes.

"My father. She started and took a calming breath as she looked at Ron again with blood shot eyes. "My father is Ras Al Ghul." She whispered to him. The shock Ron felt was like he had been hit in the chest with a two ton weight. This was unbelievable. It made part of what Ras had told him in Egypt a little more clearer.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't. My duty was to learn what I could with Sensei before I joined the League. But when you arrived, my father became fascinated with your potential." She said to him.

"So that's why you became my friend? To spy one me?" Ron demanded.

"At first it was. But then I – I fell in love with you Ran-san. I couldn't anymore, I refused to make you join me. But father anticipated this, and knew you may not join because of your bond with Possible-san. So he decided – he – Ron, forgive me." Yori said as she ran to Ron and hugged him as she began to cry uncontrollably.

"Yori, what did he do?" Ron asked her calmly.

"He knew that the skills of the Monkey Master could be passed on. If he could not have you, then – then he wanted – he wanted our child." She cried to him in agony.

"_Our_ child?" Ron asked, trying to make sure he head heard her right. "Yori, we've never been together. You were only my friend. He said to her as he pulled her away and looked her in the eyes.

"Yes, we have." Yori said as her face became twisted in pain and self-loathing.

"When?" Ron asked her. A part of him screamed to shut up, but he had to know. As far as he knew, Kim had been his first time. But if Yori and he – no. He would have remembered it. Unless – "Yori?" he asked her again.

"Do you remember when we thought Sensei had been kidnapped by Monkey Fist? Father knew the time was perfect, and had me wait until we were returning from South America. I drugged the water in your canteen and – I'm so sorry." She said as tears flowed down her face like waterfalls. Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. Yori had – he couldn't even bring himself to even think it. It made no sense to him. And if she became pregnant, then where was the baby?

"Did you conceive?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Does he have the baby?" Ron asked as he felt his rage returning.

"No. Sensei found out I was with your child, and decided to hide it from him. He made it seem the baby had died in child birth, and hid her." Yori said.

Thank God Sensei had intervened. Ron was the only person he could absolutely trust with his life and knew he would make sure the baby was safe. But Yori had said her. He had a daughter! He had a child. As he thought those words, images and memories began flashing through his mind. He didn't know why, but they were all clashing. It was like his brain was trying to put together a strange jigsaw puzzle. But the one common factor in each memory was his little sister. The skills she possessed when she was an infant, the skills. And Sensei had made sure she was with his family. The picture the puzzle made him freeze. It couldn't be possible, it just couldn't. Sensei would have told him.

"Hanna?" he asked her.

As she shook her head yes, Ron's lungs stopped breathing as his muscles locked. Everything had shut down. He had a daughter, and she had been in front of him the whole time. It made since. Ra's would never believe Yori's child had died in child birth and he'd be looking for her. And Sensei knew she would be safe with her, and safer if he didn't know about it. Hidden in plain sight.

"Can you forgive me?" She asked him.

"He knows. That's who you want me to protect, isn't it? You're father knows she's here." Ron growled.

"Yes, he does. It's too late for me, Ron-san. But I will be damned before I condemn my child to my fate. Please Ron, protect her. I beg you, protect our daughter." Yori said to him.

"Yori," he started.

"PROMISE ME!" she shouted at him.

"_Ron, are you down there?"_ Dick called, making Ron look away for a moment.

"Yori, tell me – Yori?" he asked as he saw no one in front of him. He spun around, looking throughout the entire cave. But he couldn't see anyone in the cave with him. He was alone. "YORI!" he shouted, and was rewarded with nothing but his own echo.

"Ron, are you all right?" dick asked him.

"Fine. I'm just having a bad day." Ron said to him.

"Well, it just got worse. Dr. Quinzel just killed a guard and freed the Joker from Arkham Asylum." Dick said as he rushed to where his uniform was stored.

"We leave in two minutes." Ron said as he marched into the vault.

* * *

Betty and Sherri had reached the bottom of the steep hole minutes ago and were now exploring the vast tunnel. It amazed them that someone would go to this much trouble to steal Superwoman's body. Whoever did this obviously had a lot of time and patience on their hands. From the sounds they heard above them, they guessed they were under the river. But one of the things Sherri had noticed was how smooth and perfectly round the tunnel was. This wasn't done by amateurs.

"So who do you think has the money and time to do this?" Sherri asked, already becoming sick and tired of all the quiet.

"Besides you?" Betty asked her.

"Very funny."

"It's a small list. Senor Senior Sr. passed away a while back and his son runs a night club, so that rules them out. Drakken is still in prison. And Dementor is currently locked up in an asylum."

"So who else is there?"

"Maybe your ex." Betty said to her.

"Lex? What the hell would he want with her?" Sherri asked.

"You're ex-husband is dirtier than what you think. Behind all those smiles, he's been slowly trying to seize more power and control behind everyone's back. If he can clone Superwoman, he'd have an army that would only obey him."

"Sounds like old cue ball." Sherri growled, remembering how much of a slime Luthor was.

"MA'AM! WE'VE FOUND SOMETHING!" one of the soldiers ahead shouted.

Immediately, the rest stepped aside and let Betty and Sherri move to the front to address the soldier who had spoken. When the reached him, he was shinning the light of his flashlight against a strange protrusion from the tunnel wall. Betty eyes it carefully for a moment before turning to face Sherri.

"Does this seem odd to you?" Betty asked her.

"This whole thing is smoother than glass, and this little thing shows up? What do you think?" Sherri asked her.

"Soldier, wipe the dirt off that thing." Betty told him.

Carefully, the soldier placed a gloved hand against the protrusion and pulled the dirt on it downward. The first thing they noticed was the polished metal alloy that was underneath. The soldier brushed more and more dirt off until it was revealed to be a metal orb that had been placed into the wall.

"What is it?" the soldier asked, but the two women didn't ay attention to him. What they both noticed was the strange symbol that had been engraved onto the alloy of the sphere. It looked like two triangles that were positioned where their tops touched each other. Only one place had that kind of symbol.

"Ma'am? This thing is ticking!" the soldier shouted.

"Shit! EVACUATE THE TUNNEL NOW!" Betty shouted to the rest of her platoon.

Every person within the group began running as fast as their legs could carry them toward the way had come in. Air was pumping in and out of their lungs quickly as they tried to make back to the incline that had led them down there as they felt the muscles in their legs begin to burn. There was a loud explosion that almost defended all of them and shook the entire tunnel. Within seconds, they could hear something coming straight toward them. All of them found themselves being caught in a torrent of ice cold water as it engulfed them and began pushing them back toward the direction they had just come.

All were tossing and tumbling as the current carried them. None knew which end was up or down as they felt themselves hit the walls of the tunnel or another person, more and more of the air in their lungs being knocked out. In what seemed like an painful eternity, they found themselves spit back against the walls of the tomb as each one of them began refilling their lungs with warm air.

"What the hell happened?" Lois asked.

"Whoever did this covered their tracks. They knocked in their own tunnel and the river did the rest." Sherri said in between gasps as she began to become light headed from breathing so heavily.

"We've got bigger problems. There's only agency in the world that uses that symbol that was on the bomb" Betty said as she stood to her feet, and helped Sherri onto hers. "Lane, publish your story." Betty growled.

"But didn't you just say, Jimmy started.

"Lois, you'll get a direct quote from me on this one. If they want to fuck with me, I'll bring every government in the world down on their heads!" Betty said as she stomped outside with Jimmy and Lois following close behind.

"But who are we dealing with? Who stole her?" Lois asked her.

"Sherri knows." Betty said as they all noticed the pure hatred in her eyes.

"Project Cadmus."

**

* * *

**

Cadmus Project

Jim Harper was a great police officer ages ago. He was a brand new beat cop on the streets of Metropolis when he patrolled what was known as Suicide Slum. Whenever he saw anyone in trouble, he would swoop in and save the day without calling for back up. He got into a lot of trouble that way and made several trips to the ER. But that was how he earned his nickname "The Guardian." After a few years, he had encountered five young men that had gotten themselves into some trouble while they were attempting to steal parts from a parked car. He found out they were orphans, and no foster family had wanted them. After talking to the judge, he had become the foster father to all five boys and even put them through college.

Now, his boys were all in there early forties to mid fifties and had become the leading experts in genetics. So one day, when he was dying of lung cancer as an old man, they had proposed a strange idea of theirs. They had perfected human cloning and knew how to transfer his mind into the new body they would create for him. With death's shadow leaning over him, Jim had agreed to be their first test subject. He was happy to say that the procedure worked, and Jim Harper was legally laid to rest. Now his old nickname was his call sign when he became the head of security for his boys employer. The Cadmus Project. And it was his boys that called him about trouble going on in one of their main labs at that very moment.

"What's going on?" Jim asked as he stepped off the elevator.

"Wesfield." Scrapper said.

"He pulled men off of every project and locked them in the main R & D lab along with himself. We tried to get in there, but he's deleted our access codes and has an override in place." Gabby said.

"What about one of DNAmy's creatures?" Harper asked them as he tried to enter some of the standard codes, but saw they were being rejected.

"Its no use." Flip said. "He took our experimental Psyonic Buffers and put them in place. If any psychic uses their abilities to see what's going on, it feels like their brain has just been tazered."

"Sounds like you made them too well." Jim said as he took off an access panel and began to try and hot wire the door.

"We would have never made them if we knew Westfield was going to pull something like this. He's violating every protocol in the book! What's he doing?!" Tommy asked.

"I don't think I want to know. Got it!" Harper said. As soon as he twisted two wires together and the doors unlocked and slip open.

As they all marched into the lab, everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing. They knew Westfield could go too far sometimes, but this time he had flown off of the deep end. What they saw was nothing else but – monstrous. If they didn't like Westfield before, they absolutely hated his guts now.

"This is a restricted area, Guardian! None of you have any clearance to be here! Get ou,"

Harper's fist connected with Westfield's chin before the man could even finish. Before Westfield could even check to see if he was bleeding, another fist hit him in between the eyes and broke his nose. Behind Westfield, floating in a giant glass tank of an experimental medical liquid, was Superwoman's nude body and covered by several sensors.

"You lying, scum eating, son of a whore! HOW DARE YOU?!" Harper shouted as loud as he could.

"We had every right to do what we did!"

"LIKE HELL YOU DID! THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF TOLD YOU NO, AND YOU DID IT ANYWAY!"

"The President has as much power over me as you have trying to make a pile of elephant shit dance!" Westfield shouted back.

"YOU LUNATIC! YOU STOLE SUPERWOMAN'S BODY!" Harper shouted and knocked Westfield on his ass again before he could respond.

"Damn it, Harper! Would you stop and listen to me for a minute! The world is going to hell in a hand basket out there! The Justice League may have all those heroes up there, but they can't do half of what Superwoman could do. The world needs Superwoman." Westfield said.

"My God. You're trying to clone her?" Harper asked his superior in disbelief.

"Think of it. Superwoman, reborn! But with our protocols in place, she would obey our orders. She could be the perfect soldier." Westfield said.

"You're trying to make her a weapon." Harper growled.

"You're not seeing the bigger picture."

"Oh yes I am. And I'm not letting you do this to the world's greatest hero. I'm calling the President." Harper said as he turned to leave.

"Wait a minute. DAMN IT, WAIT!" Westfield shouted. "YOU CAN'T ARGUE THAT WE NEED HER ALIVE!"

"No, I can't. But you want to make her a weapon of mass destruction, and I won't have anything to do with it. I'd rather prefer that she stay dead." Harper said.

"The same goes for the rest of us." Scrapper said as they all turned to leave.

"What if I put you in charge of the project?" Westfield ask, making them all stop. "I'll put you in charge. Whatever you say goes." Westfield said as Harper thought about it.

"All right, here's the deal. I want my boys on this, and full access. And when we clone her, no Cadmus protocols."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Take it or leave it." Harper said to him.

"Fine." Westfield spat and stormed past Harper and the others.

"Keep tabs on him at all times. He never gives up that easily." He said.

"Agreed. What else do you want us to do, Jim?" Flip asked him.

"We get to work. Its only a matter of time before the shit hits the fan. Someone get Superwoman out of there and get her back into her uniform. She deserves better than this." Harper said as he left.

* * *


	8. Who Wants to Live Forever?

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

"_I'm here in Centennial Park this morning where a crowd of outraged Metropolis citizens have come to express their outrage. In the story published in the morning edition of The Daily Planet, reporter Lois Lane states that the body of the World's Greatest hero, Superwoman, was stolen early this morning by a government agency known as Project Cadmus. Calls from citizens and Government officials have been coming in to try and confirm the story. With me right now is the head of Global Justice, Doctor Betty Director. Can you confirm any of this?"_

"_I'm afraid I can. We responded to the call of an explosion inside the tomb, and saw that part of the tomb had indeed been entered through the use of explosives. The only thing missing was the coffin that contained Superwoman's body."_

"_But what made you suspect Project Cadmus?"_

"_Despite an earlier attempt at trying to claim Superwoman's remains, we did not suspect them at first. We thought it may have been one of Superwoman's various adversaries."_

"_What made you change your mind?"_

"_A reconnaissance team was sent in to investigate a tunnel that had been created take the remains without being seen. Once inside, the team discovered a incendiary device that detonated and flooded the tunnel. Before it did, my team recognized a symbol that had been engraved in it." _Betty said as she stepped next to several monitors. _"Each of my men were equiped with wireless cameras that transmitted everything back to our database. On this captured image, you can clearly see the engraved symbol. When we ran it against our database, it perfectly matches the one used for Project Cadmus."_

"_You said they had attempted to take Superwoman's body before?"_

"_Correct. When her remains were kept at the city coroner's office, Cadmus attempted to steal the remains then. The only reason they stopped was when they were issued an order coming from the president of the United States."_

"_Despite these orders, you believe they are the ones responsible?" _

"_Without a doubt." _Betty said.

_You heard it here folks. Project Cadmus has stolen Superwoman's body, despite orders not to. This is Cat Grant for,"_

"DAMN IT TO HELL!" Wetfield shouted as he hurled his stapler through his TV screen and watched it spark. "GET HARPER IN HERE NOW!" he shouted as everyone scrambled.

The entire compound had been on high alert since the story broke. Westfield was so angry that his face was flushed a deep purple as every vein in his neck was threatening to tear themselves out of the skin. Pissed off or even the word mad wasn't really good enough to describe how angry he was at that moment. Anyone taking a glance at him would think he was a few seconds away from having a major stroke. It didn't help matter when his head of security, Jim Harper, walked into his office with a file under his arm and sat down in a chair like it was a normal day.

"We've got a serious problem, Guardian. I need you to place the entire compound on lockdown before it's too late." Westfield said as he opened a desk drawer and took out a half empty bottle of scotch. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I give up that alien's corpse."

"Then hell must have declared a snow day." Harper said calmly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you think only Metropolis knows about the stunt you pulled? We're getting heat and death threats from just about the entire world, Paul." Harper said.

"Bullshit."

"Bull true." Harper said as he opened the folder and placed a sheet of paper in front of Wesfield's line of sight.

"What's this?" he asked as he pulled the cap off the bottle and took a large swallow.

"Orders from the United Nations; demanding that we return Superwoman's body at once. If we don't, they'll act against us."

"I'm not doing what those spoiled bureaucrats tell me to do. Let them screw themselves until their blue in the face."

"They're not the only ones giving us flack, Paul. We've got the CIA, the FBI, Homeland Security, NSA, Congress, The President, Interpool, MI-6, and even the KGB breathing down our necks. Unless we hand over Superwoman's remains, all of Project Cadmus will be brought up on Federal charges. You've really stuck your dick in a hornet's nest now."

"To hell with all of them. I'm not handing over jack shit."

"WOULD YOU GROW UP, WESTFIELD?! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A LITTLE KID THAT JUST STOLE THE LATEST TOY OFF THE PLAYGROUND!" Harper shouted as he threw the file on his superior's desk and stood to his feet.

"How dare you speak to me like,"

"SHUT UP!" Harper barked, silencing Westfield before he could even finish his sentence. "I don't know what the hell you were thinking, but I'm not letting you drag this organization down with you. I've already contacted the President and local authorities. We're going to return Superwoman's body within the next hour."

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!"

"THE HELL I AM! I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but you've obviously lost it! You stole a global hero's corpse, violating every protocal in the book that you even wrote half of, and decide to try and make her a weapon of mass destruction. As head of security, I am relieving you of your command and confining you to quarters."

"You can't hand that thing over to them!"

"Yes, I can. You put me in charge of the project, remember?" Harper asked with a smile as he saw the realization fill Westfield's eye.

"You son of a bitch. You were never going to try and clone her, were you? You planned this."

"Damn straight I did. Until the U.S. Government decides what to do with you, I've been placed as acting head of Cadmus."

"You bastard, I'll make sure you,"

"Save it, Westfield. You're going to be rotting in your quarters for a long time." Jim said as he turned and left. "I already notified the Justice League on the situation, and they'll will be here in twenty minutes. You're lucky I don't throw your worthless hide to them over this."

Several moments after he left, Westfield heard the doors bolt close as several of his computer systems powered down. The lockdown was already in immediate effect. All he could do was chew on his lip as he sat there for a moment before taking another swing of the scotch in his hand. After letting the liquid burn his throat as it slid its was down into his stomach, reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone he had kept secret for emergency's. It looked like now was as good a time as ever to use it.

"_Yes, sir?"_ a voice on the other end said.

"Do you still have all the data we recorded earlier?"

"_Yes, sir; I still have it hidden."_

"Is our theory possible?"

"_Everyone believes so."_

"Then the word is go. But keep it highly classified. I don't want anyone to know that this project exists. Project Phoenix is good to go."

* * *

It was hard for them when they retrieved their friend's body from Cadmus. They were in a Javelin that was heading back toward Metropolis as fast as it could go, but they couldn't help but glance toward the back where she lay under a sheet. Part of the Javelin converted into what could be called an advanced ambulance in case they were on rescue missions, but it seemed somewhat pointless to have it in rescue mode when there was nothing they could do for their departed comrade. Out of all of them, Josh was the one that kept turning in his seat to look at the still form in the back. It was still hard for him to accept what had happen. Surprisingly, they had to hold Will back from knocking a few heads together. They were all angry at what Cadmus had done, J'onn could feel it coming off all of them like heat.

Diana finally couldn't take it anymore as she unbuckled her harness and walked to the medical bed. She pulled the sheet back and let a small sob escape as she took a look at her friend's still form. She knew many of her sisters had mourned Kim's death, but none more than she. In Kim, she saw what she felt was a true sister. An Amazon through and through and was tempted to go through the fires of the underworld and fight Hades himself so she could live. But she knew that wouldn't be what she wanted.

"Diana?" J'onn asked as he stood beside her.

"I could almost swear that she was sleeping, J'onn." Diana said as she looked at Kim.

"It is amazing. Even all her wounds have healed themselves." He said.

"They have? D-does that mean s-she's?"

"No. The solar energy that is left in her cells are still active, but her brain has shut down. She's dead, Diana." J'onn said.

"It's just not fair." Diana said as she took one more look before J'onn covered her face with the sheet once more.

"Let me help you back to your seat." J'onn said as he helped her back. He was glad they didn't bring Ron along. He would have – "Did you say something?" J'onn asked her.

"No, I didn't. Why?" she asked him.

"Nothing. I'm probably still tired is all." He said as they took their seats once more. As they did so, J'onn couldn't help but look at Kim's body one more time. For a moment, he thought he heard a stray thought. He scanned Kim's body one more time and found – nothing.

* * *

Gotham City

Batman's blood was boiling as he sped through Gotham's streets at dangerous speeds. Only instinct, experience, and the advanced systems in the new Tumbler kept him from crashing into anything. The whole incident with Kim's body being stolen had enraged him beyond means. He was glad the league had retrieved her body, but it still pissed him off beyond anything he remembered that the Justice League had kept him in the dark the entire time. He may not have ever formally made himself a member, but; he still helped whenever they needed it. The only thing that had been keeping his anger from exploding was his manhunt for the Joker and Harley Quinn. He and Robin had checked several locations that were once the Joker's hideouts, but found nothing. That left one more place Batman had in mind.

"You okay, boss?" Robin asked him.

"I'm fine." He growled.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw how Robin had flinched. Everyone had been patient with him since he had his meltdown, but he knew they were all still afraid he was going to loose it. So was he. With everything that's happened, he was lucky he wasn't a current resident at Arkham Asylum. But if he didn't pull his head together soon, he might find himself there before he could blink.

"I'm sorry, Robin. It's just been a lot to take in." Batman said, slipping back into Ron.

"I know. Since my parents died, Kim was like a mother to me. You don't know how pissed I am for what's been happening to her. I – I really miss her, Ron." Robin said.

"I do too, Dick. We were closer than you and Hanna are." He said as he kept his eyes on the road. "Speaking of which, how close _have_ you two gotten?" Batman asked.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, and noticed the glare that started making him fidget in his seat a little. "You think that we're? Come on, boss! She's my best friend!"

"And Kim was mine." Batman growled.

"Ron, I'm telling you. Hannah and I are just friends." Robin said slowly to make his point while Batman kept his eyes on the road.

"Good to hear." He said. _"He's lying out his teeth."_ Batman thought to himself. "Do you remember that red button I told you never to push?"

"Yeah." Robin said.

"Push it."

Robin glanced down at the accelerator and saw the red button Batman was talking about. He always wondered what it did, but he wasn't stupid enough to disobey the Dark Knight. He had to live with him afterwards. Slowly, with his hand shaking, he reached over and placed his hand on the large accelerator and pressed the button. The Tumbler rocketed forward with a massive jolt of speed as the fire from the back rocket engine turned blue. The boost in speed caused both occupants to be pressed into the seats as the surrounding city became a blur and Robin's shrill voice screamed one word as they drove.

"OOOOHHHH SHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTT!"

* * *

"Slow night, Detective Bullock?" the rookie police officer asked as he was joined by the larger officer.

"In this line of work, a slow night is the best night. Right now, I'd hate to be one of those moochers over in Metropolis."

"What do you mean?"

"With all that crap with that government agency? And now those freaky Superwoman cultists gathered around that place 24/7? What a mess." Bullock said, mainly to himself.

"Tell me about. My cousin April joined those whack jobs not too long ago. My parents tried to talk her out of it, but what can you do?"

"Easy. Knocker her out cold, and lock her up in a rubber room." Bullock said as he pulled out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

"Don't I wish." The officer said.

"Now, now. That isn't really a nice thing to say." A man in a long, dark purple, trench coat said with a matching wide brimmed fedora sitting on his head. He kept his face cast downward, letting the brim of the hat hide his face.

"No one was asking you." Bullock said.

"I know. Just expressing my opinion to a bunch of thugs that like to hide behind a badge. He he he he, what a joke." The man said.

"You trying to start a fight, clown?" the younger officer asked.

"Me? Oh no, not me. Her on the other hand." He said as he nudged his head in the direction behind the two police officers.

As both turned, they saw a skinny blond woman run from the shadows and leap at the light pole, grasping it firmly and letting her momentum spin her around it in a full circle. Her feet were together as they planted a firm kick into the young officer's sternum, causing several ribs to break. As the officer was bent over and coughing for breath, the woman placed her hands on the back of the officer and used him as a springboard as she flipped over the officer and wrapped her legs around Detective Bullock's neck tightly. Bullock was having trouble breathing as he tried to pull her legs apart, but it was like he was trying to take a two-ton car apart. The woman sat up and looked down at Bullock with a sadistic grin through her white painted face and black lips. She then began to flip over backwards with her legs still firmly wrapped around Bullock's neck.

The force of her sudden move was able to pull Bullock forward and force him to crash face first into the lamp post, knocking him unconscious while Harley let him go and flipped into a perfect dismount. As Bullock collapsed to the concrete, the man in purple removed a crowbar he had hidden under his coat and brought it crashing downward onto the back of the young police officer's head. As both cops lay unconscious, the man in the purple coat looked up with a very confused and amused look on his face.

"I was training to be an Olympic gymnast before I became a shrink." She said smugly. Both laughed uncontrollably as they walked past the two officers and carried on with their business.

* * *

Kal was watching the readings and controls closely as a large crystal near him rose from the floor of the massive Fortress. He had been studying every single piece of data the fortress had about genetic engineering and manipulation until he was sure he understood it. If he was going to help Galatea like he promised, he wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong. The added bonus was that with the free time he had from studying, she had been training him and teaching him how to use his powers. Of course, her training uniform had distracted him every so often. How could she expect him to get something right while she wore a white one piece bathing suit that was a thong in the back and left her cleavage wide open. She was wearing that during his heat vision training and he had his little accident. Of course, she called it "explosive combustion."

He shook his head to make himself concentrate on the now. After all the reading and studying, he thought he found a way to stabilize her unstable DNA and hopefully stop her dependency on Kryptonite. He hated being anywhere near that stuff, even if it was once a part of his home world. He just hoped there weren't any side effects. He was smart, but he wasn't a prodigy like his uncle had been.

"Is it ready yet?" Galatea asked as she stepped out of the sleep chamber.

"Just about. I need to program a few more commands, and everything should be ready." He said to her.

"That's good to hear. Do I need to do anything?" she asked as she peeked over his shoulder and realized she didn't have one clue what he was doing.

"Yeah. The computer needs to scan you so it'll know what to fix. So you just have to step into the chamber for a minute or two." Kal told her.

"Sounds simple enough. Can I wear this?" she asked.

Kal finally looked up from what he was doing and took notice of Galatea. What she was wearing was nothing at all, not even a robe. What Kal saw was absolutely stunning to him. Her body was perfect in every way. There were no fat deposits on her anywhere, and her muscles were firm and yet subtle at the same time. Her stomach was flat and well toned, and her breasts were – what was he thinking?! Technically, she was his cousin too! As he forced himself to look away, he couldn't help but wonder if he was going to go to hell for looking at her for so long.

"I-it's f-f-fine." He stuttered.

"Judging by that blush, it's more than fine." Galatea said with a smirk as she walked to the large crystal chamber. As she did so, she could hear Kal kicking himself for stealing another glance. She loved being a tease sometimes.

Galatea stepped into the chamber and shivered at how cold it was. The chamber sealed itself closed as she heard air being pumped in so she wouldn't suffocate. The crystal was somewhat cloudy, like looking through a sliding shower door. She could make out the colorful blur as Kal-El as he worked at the terminal, but she wished she could see more clearly. For some strange reason, she couldn't use her x-ray vision in this chamber.

"Do I need to stand still?" she asked him.

"No. In fact, the scan's already done. We're good to go." Kal said to her.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's get this show on the road." She shouted out to him and closed her eyes.

"Great Rao, let this work." Kal said to himself, and pressed a large crystal into the control console.

The chamber began to glow faintly with a gold inner light and would flash brighter in different sections. Soon, the whole crystal was lit with a bright white light before it faded to a bright crimson red. He could hear Galatea hiss every so often and was hoping nothing was wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I feel like I'm in a sauna!" she shouted.

The light began glowing brighter as Galatea moaned even louder before the crystal began shifting colors. First it changed to blue, then to green, and then yellow before it changed back to red. With each change, the colors were getting brighter and brighter. The whole fortress was bathed in multiple colors as the change kept getting faster and brighter. Kal had to cover his eyes as the colors were racing so fast that it almost created a new color entirely. He tried to read the console to make sure the process was stable, but the light was to bright for him. As Kal tried to find a glimpse of Galatea inside the chamber, the shifting colors stopped as it glowed with a pure white light that momentarily blinded him for a moment. Kal blinked several times as he tried to remove the spots from his eyes and allowed himself a moment to focus. After a while, he realized that the chamber was no longer glowing and the process was finished. Kal stumbled as the chamber door opened and he saw steam escaping. He saw her place her hands against the entrance's edge before she fell onto the floor. Kal rushed to her side and lifted her up into his arms before he notices something amazing.

Her hair, which was once a glowing red, had changed into a dark burgundy; almost auburn colored. Her skin was slightly paler, and her eyes were now a crystal blue like his. It was completely amazing. If he hadn't seen her enter the chamber, he would have sworn he was holding a complete stranger in his arms.

"Did it work?" she whispered as she tried to regain her breath.

"I-I think it did." He said to her. His throat felt dry as he realized that she still wasn't wearing anything.

"Then how come I feel so tired?" She asked him as she tried to stand.

"The machine temporarily suppressed your powers so it could perform the procedure. Once you get into the sunlight, you should be able to recharge in no time." Kal told her as he helped her to her feet and led her back to the sleep chamber. "Do you feel any different?"

"Not really." She said.

"Then maybe you should just get some rest for now. Once you've regained your strength, we can run some more tests." He said as he lead her to the bed, but became worried when she stopped.

"Oh my God." She whispered as she looked at a piece of crystal. When Kal-El followed her gaze and saw that the crystal she was gazing at had a very polished and reflective surface.

"Is that me?" she asked as she slowly walked away from Kal and looked in the mirror. She gazed at her hair, her face, and her eyes. She spent a long time looking at her eyes. Kal was worried that she didn't like what she saw and was wondering who or what she would take her rage out on.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I can see if I can reprogram the machine to,"

"I'm free."

"What?"

"I've had to live with the fact that I was a rip off of the princess. Every time I looked in the mirror, all I could see was that I was nothing but a shadow of her. But now, I don't see her anymore. I – I just see me." She said as a wide smile formed on her face. She turned and looked at Kal for a moment as she laughed a little. Before Kal knew what was happening, Galatea had her arms circled around his neck and found her warm lips pressing against his. His mind seemed to crash into a screeching halt as he felt her lips pressing and moving against his. After a few moments, he found himself relaxing and giving in to the kiss as he began to respond in return. When Galatea finally pulled away, she giggled at the lop sided grid that was on his face.

"We'll have to work on your technique." She said to him.

"Out of curiosity, what was that for?" he asked her.

"Just my way of thanking you." She said to him.

"Um – you're welcome?" he asked, earning another giggle in response.

* * *

The apartment was dark. No light from the city was shinning into the interior and allowed very little to be seen by the naked eye. There also wasn't a single sound either, and made it as quiet as a tomb. It was as if the entire apartment was frozen in time. The only sign of life in the entire structure was the long curtains that were blowing from the cold wind outside as it drifted inward. It looked like no one had been there for days, which might mean the duo at the window were probably too late. Both Dark Knight and Boy Wonder were looking through the apartment carefully with their flashlights. If Dr. Quinzel had snapped, she might have booby-trapped anything in her apartment.

"So what are we looking for?" Robin asked.

"Anything." Batman answered.

The truth be told, he didn't know what they were looking for. But she must have left some clues behind of her activities. Robin wondered down the hallways as Batman noticed a coffee mug with a clown painted on it, sitting on a small table that was half full. He stuck his finger in it, and let the thin texture of the glove allow him to feel the temperature. It was ice cold. That meant it had been sitting here for a while. But were they ever really here to begin with?

"Boss? I think I found something in here." Robin said, drawing Batman's attention.

He could see that Robin had found a spare closet in the hallway that was loaded with various purple suits and trench coats. The colors may be different, but they were all tailored just the same. On the floor were several articles of what looked to be spandex. It was obviously too small for the Joker to wear, but it was probably in Dr. Quinzel's size. Batman gently searched the pockets of several coats, and narrowed his eyes when he found something. Slowly, he lifted out a deck of playing cards that felt unusually stiff and heavy.

"Someone really must like playing poker." Robin said,

"I doubt it." Batman growled as he removed on and threw it to the floor. Robin watched with wide eyes as the edge sunk into the wooden floorboards like a knife through butter and stood in place. "Nothing is as it seems with the Joker." Batman said as he placed the cards back into the pocket he found them and ventured deeper into the apartment.

With Robin close behind him, they soon found a spare bedroom that looked more like a scene from fatal attraction. It was a standard bedroom, with one exception. One entire was had nothing but pictures of the Joker's from several sources. Print outs, personal photos, newspaper clippings. There were even a few of his mug shots mixed into the mass of photos.

"Talk about freak show." Robin said.

"She's been hiding him here every time he escaped." Batman said to himself. "The Polaroid's she took were from here in this apartment."

"I wonder what other surprises are in here." He said as he turned to continue searching, but stopped. "Okay, now that's just wrong-sick."

"Robin?"

"I don't think she's the only one obsessed." Robin said as he pointed to the room across from it.

Batman looked and growled as he saw the large white wall. There were two painted circles, probably made to look like eyes, and a large red bat acting as a red smile. There were also several drawings and mutilated clippings around it. Several things bothered Batman about the messy collection in front of him. One of them was the clock that had been stick in the middle of the drawing of Joker's face that was acting as a nose.

"This guy really needs a hobby." Robin said as he saw several badges nailed to the wall. Some had a red X painted on them, and he was scared what that meant. He also looked at a photo of blind justice. The Joker had clawed eyes into it, and carved a smile onto her with a red pen. But around the photo, it looked like he had drawn a – box? A prison maybe? "What do you think this all means?"

"It's a message. He's challenging us to stop him." Batman said.

"But where, and what? It looks like he drew a smoke house around this picture." Robin said as he pointed to the picture he had just been looking at.

"It's a house. It has a chimney on the roof." Batman said as he looked at the clock and saw it was frozen in place. A house around the statue of blind justice? What could that mean? House's usually meant a home. A home for blind justice? Or –

"He's going to attack the courthouse at nine o'clock." Batman said as he turned and left.

"How do you know that?" Robin asked.

"I listened." He said and turned away. As soon as his foot was out the door, he heard something beep.

"Batman, that clock just started ticking." Robin said.

"Run." Batman said as he and Robin ran back to the living room as fast as their feet could take them.

Both made for the open window they had entered through and leapt through it and started diving down into the alley below as the apartment was engulfed in a massive explosion that showered them in flaming debris as they deployed their grapples. As soon as they were on a near by roof, they looked back and saw that the explosion had taken out the entire floor that Dr. Quinzel's apartment had been on.

"I think it's safe to say she's gone nuts." Robin said as Batman walked away.

* * *

Everything was hectic as usual, and he couldn't really stand it. The only good thing about being stuck at a front desk when things were unbearably busy was that time almost seemed to fly by. Why didn't he just call in sick? Right now, he could be sitting in his recliner with a bag of cheese-flavored chips and the game on. Maybe he should bug his supervisor about a promotion again. Of course the last time he did that, he almost got fired.

"Excuse me?" a man asked him as he walked to the desk. The man was looking down and letting a purple hat with a wide brim block his face while holding a large duffel bag. Beside him was a woman wearing a red and black sweater jacket with the hood pulled up, blocking her face as well.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"I'm supposed to meet someone inside."

"Do you know their name?"

"Sadly, no. I've forgotten it. But I'm sure it concerns some sort of case involving a giant bat." The man said as he chuckled.

"Unless you have a name, I'm afraid I can't help you, sir." He said to the man.

"You sound a little down. How about I show you a magic trick?" he said as the woman beside him handed him a pencil. With another chuckle, he jammed the sharpened end of the pencil into his desk as hard as he could.

"Sir! You can't just,"

Before the clerk could say another word, the man grasped his head firmly and slammed his face into the pencil as hard as he could. He let the clerk's body fall lifeless to the floor as he and the woman laughed at the sight. The man quickly walked around the desk to the now lifeless clerk and dipped a gloved singer into the blood that oozed out around the pencil from in between his eyes. He then painted a smile on the clerk's face as the woman opened the bag he had dropped.

"It's magic." The man said as the woman handed him a gas mask and pulled out one for herself. "Let's get this party started." The man said as they walked past the desk.

* * *

"Is it always supposed to be this quiet?" Robin asked as he and Batman kept an eye on City Hall. They had been there for over half an hour, and nothing had happened so far. After all the years he had been Robin, he never remembered things being so calm before all hell broke loose.

"It's a little strange." Batman said. Like he had told Robin, nothing was what it seemed with the Joker. For all he knew, it was the calm before the storm. "Oracle, are you getting anything?"

"_Nothing, Batman. The systems haven't been hacked, and everything's normal. Do you want me to evacuate the building?"_ Oracle asked him.

"Not yet. Contact Gordon, and tell him to get his men ready."

"_Will do."_

"What do we do about the Joker's girlfriend?" Robin asked him.

"We take her down like any other thug. But be on your toes."

"I know. I glanced at her file. She has a black belt and the shoes to match." Robin said as he kept glancing at various places of the courthouse.

"Robin, I need to ask you. Why did you lie to me when you said that you and Hanna were just friends?"

"I didn't – how could you tell?" he asked.

"Your left eye twitches when you lie." Batman growled as he glanced at his partner.

"All right. Me and Hanna have been dating for a few months now." Robin said.

"Do you care about her?" he asked and noticed the look on Robin's face.

"What kind of question is that?! Of course I care about her! I lo – I love her." Robin said reluctantly. "I'd die for her, Ron."

"That's what I wanted to know." He said as he continued his monitor duty. "How far have you two gotten?" he growled.

"We've only kissed, that's all!" Robin said quickly, wanting to avoid this talk.

"_Batman, I can't get the Police Department."_

"What about the private line I have for Gordon?"

"_Nothing. Batman, everything's down. Even their network."_ Oracle said as Batman's eyes began to widen in horror.

"GET TO THE TUMBLER NOW!" Batman shouted as he darted back across the roof.

"Boss, what is it?" Robin asked him.

"I MISREAD THE MESSAGE!" Batman shouted as he dove off the roof and activated his memory cloth cape and glided down to the Tumbler with Robin following close behind him.

"What do you mean you misread it?" Robin asked as they both leaped into the assault vehicle and the canopy slid closed.

"Joker doesn't like to leave clues. When he does, its because he wants me to suffer." Batman said as they flew out of the alley and down the streets. "Joker sees himself as an agent of Chaos; introducing anarchy into normal society. He drew a house around Blind Justice and had the clock with a set time on the wall. He was targeting the home of Justice; of law & order."

"The courthouse. So why didn't he show?"

"Because I wasn't thinking like he does. Remember, he wants to torment me. To show me that I'm wrong. I don't have any contacts at the courthouse. But where's one place that I do keep a close contact and could be considered another home for law & order?"

"Oh my God. He's attacking the police station." Robin said as he realized what Batman had missed.

"Oracle, I need you to get any readings you can." Batman said into his comm link.

"_I'm trying, but there's nothing working. Wait a minute. I'm getting 911 reports that people are hearing laughing coming from police HQ."_

"Laughing?"

"_Yeah. Even some of the people on the sidewalk are breaking out into fits of laughter if they get anywhere near it."_

"Laughing gas?" Robin asked.

"Maybe."

"But why not his Joker toxin?"

"He's short on money, and he wants their death to be a slow one. Get your mask ready." Batman said as Robin removed two devices from his belt and put them together. The small oxygen breather would last for an hour, but here's hoping it wouldn't take that long to find the Joker.

* * *

As Batman brought the Tumbler to a screeching halt in front of police HQ, his assumed his theories were right as he saw the bat signal had been changed. Instead of a large bat, it was now showing a morbid design of a hideous smile.

"What should we do first?" Robin asked him.

"If Joker's spreading laughing gas through the building, he must have tapped into the ventilation system. I need you to find it and shut it down. I'll handle the Joker." Batman said as he removed his grappling gun, aimed, and fired. Within moments, he was zooming to the rooftop while Robin wore his small gas mask and went inside.

With the exception of the glowing spotlight, the entire roof was empty. He couldn't see anything moving in the shadows, and he couldn't hear anything. He couldn't even hear that lunatic's chuckle. Like he used to say when he was younger, this was five-hundred miles of bad road. As Batman kept scanning the roof for any sign of the Joker, Quinzel, or the signs of a trap, he noticed something. There was a manila folder taped to the base of the spotlight. Cautiously, Batman walked to the spotlight and saw that a crude bat had been drawn on the front of the envelope. Obviously, it was meant for him.

He took the folder, opened it, and saw there were several pictures inside. AS he took them out and looked at him, he felt bile begin to rise in the back of his throat. They were pictures of a young teenaged girl, with flowing red hair and a gunshot wound to her abdomen. She had been stripped in these photos and had been forced to pose in certain positions. And the one forcing the poor girl to pose was Dr. Quinzel. But what made his rage begin to grow to uncontrollable levels again was that he knew the girl in the photos. It was Barbara Gordon, Jim's daughter.

"She does have a promising future as a model, doesn't she?" a sinister voice asked directly behind the Dark Knight. Batman crumpled the photos and folder into a wadded ball as he turned and glared at the Clown Prince of Crime. "Of course, that's if she doesn't die of lead poisoning."

"You deluded freak." Batman growled as he dropped the crumpled photos to the ground.

"Freak? Well isn't that pot calling the kettle black. If you have anyone to blame for this whole situation, just look in a mirror bat brain."

"You're blaming all this on me?" he growled.

"Of course. You're the one that made me fall into that vat of toxic crap, and threw me into that Asylum like some bastard child you didn't want to take responsibility for. You made me – Daddy!" the Joker said as he began to laugh.

"And it's scum like you that made me." Batman growled as he removed a batarang, ready to throw it.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Batsy." The Joker said as he whistled. That's when Batman saw them. Dr. Quinzel was holding a gun to Gordon's chin, and she had his mouth covered with duck tape and his hands cuffed. "You wouldn't believe how useful little miss Harley Quinn has been." Joker said as he reached behind his coat and removed a crowbar.

"Why are you doing this?" Batman demanded.

"At first, I just wanted to prove to one of you that just one bad day could really screw you up for the rest of your life." Joker said as he took a few steps forward.

" I mean, just look at you. Ever since Super Bitch bought it, you've been Dirty Harry in a cape! But try as I might, Mr. Good Cop here just wouldn't budge and had to stay the perfect model of sanity. But then I remembered when you almost killed me, and I wondered how much fun it would be if everyone had to deal with a Batman that was as crazy as me. Either way, I get to push one of you over the edge. And I also get to bash Gordon's brains in." Joker said as he raised the crowbar high. "Any last words for the old fart?"

"Yeah. Aim high." Batman said.

"Huh?" Joker asked before a ninja star in the shape of a bird pierced Joker's hand.

As the Joker screamed in pain and clutched his hand, dropping the crowbar, Batman rushed forward toward Harley and Gordon. As fast as he could, Batman hurled the batarang toward Harley as hard as he could and saw it bounce of her head and knock her backwards. Gordon ducked out of the way as Robin leapt over Batman's head, extending his collapsible bo-staff, and striking Harley across the head as hard as he could and sending her to the ground.

The Joker had yanked Robin's throwing star out of his hand and reclaimed his crowbar in a firm grasp. With a loud shout of pure anger, he came running toward Batman with a murderous rage filling his eyes. The lunatic brought down the crowbar toward the Dark Knight's head, hoping to crack it open like an egg. Batman brought his forearm upward, blocking the blow and jabbed the Joker in the Adam's apple before kicking him in the chest with a hard blow that sent the Joker crashing into the side of the large spot light.

"Are you all right, commissioner?" Robin asked as he peeled the tape off of Gordon's mouth and helped him to his feet.

"I'm fine. But my men. They were all,"

"I found the supply of laughing gas and shut it off. They should be back to normal soon." Robin reassured her.

"Wait, what about Barbara?" Gordon asked.

"I'm on it." Batman growled as he activated the comm link in his cowl. "Oracle, get an ambulance to Gordon's home now!"

"_Already been covered. A neighbor called 911 not too long after the Joker had left. She's just came out of surgery now."_

"How is she?"

"_From what I can tell, they're not sure if she'll ever walk again."_

"Damn." Batman growled under his breath and he fought back the rage again. "Which hospital?"

"_Gotham General."_

"She's at Gotham General, Jim. She's alive." Batman said to his long time friend, but he didn't have the heart to tell him the rest.

"Oh, thank God." Jim said in relief.

As Batman opened his eyes, he saw something moving in the shadows. It took him only a moment for his eyes to readjust and recognize Harley with the gun still in her hands. And only half a second to see where she was aiming it.

"Say good night, Bird Boy." She growled under her breath as she squeezed the trigger.

"**NOOO!"** Batman screamed as he flung himself in front of Robin as the gun fired.

Every thing around them seemed to go in slow motion as Robin saw his mentor fling himself in front of the young man. There was a small sound, like when a paintball went splat as he saw his mentor fly past him, becoming a human shield. He saw the Dark Knight tumble to the ground, and then lay motionless. He couldn't move as his brain tried to make the necessary neurons fire. He couldn't believe it at first before he finally found his voice and the ability to move.

"BATMAN!" he screamed as he and Gordon rushed to his side. He wasn't moving at all. It even looked like he wasn't breathing. Everything Robin knew was crashing in all around him. It was like he was watching his parents death all over again. It was like he was watching Kim die all over again. When he heard the sick laughter hovering over him like a dark rain cloud, he glared upward as he saw Harley's insane look of glee as she kept the gun raised.

"Looks like it's lights out for the Batman." She said as her smile grew wider. The hammer slowly started to cock backwards as she started to squeeze the trigger again before the blunt side of the Joker's crowbar impacted across her face and shattered her jaw. A small feeling of relief washed over Robin as he saw her crash to the ground out cold.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, YOU LITTLE BITCH! IF ANYONE'S GOING TO TAKE OUT THE BATMAN, IT'S GONNA BE ME!" Joker shouted as he kicked her in the ribs as hard as he could.

When the Joker turned to face them, Batman was on his feet faster than the strike of a King Cobra and slammed his fist into the Joker's midsection. As Joker doubled over in pain, Batman grabbed him roughly by the shoulders of his coat and jammed his knee in between the lunatic's legs as hard as he possibly could. Joker's knees were beginning to buckle, but Batman kept the firm hold on him. He jerked the mad man back onto his feet, making Joker look up at him. With a low growl, Batman slammed his forehead into the Joker's and sent the pale faced man sprawled onto the roof.

Batman staggered backwards and clutched the side of the spot light as he tried to regain his breath while Gordon made sure Harley was still alive.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Robin whispered.

"I'm fine." Batman said in between heavy breaths.

Robin knew something was wrong. He never breathed that hard after a fight, even when he took a hit. He also noticed his hand was clutching his own midsection as he breathed, and he saw something dripping downward. When he looked down, Robin's eyes widened in fear. What he saw dripping from Ron's uniform was blood. The bullet had pierced the armor plating in his suit.

"Oracle, get the cave ready. I'm bringing Batman home."

"_Robin, what's wrong?"_

"He's been shot." Robin said as he tried to get Batman to move. "Can you handle them?" Robin called out to Gordon.

"I can hear my officers coming up the stairs. We'll have them in holding in no time. Robin? Batman?" Gordon asked. When he looked up, he saw that he was alone. "I hate it when they do that."

* * *

"Tumbler, activate auto-pilot!" Robin shouted as he helped Ron into the cockpit and strapped him in.

"_Destination?"_ the computer asked.

"HOME!" Robin shouted as he leapt into the side seat and strapped himself in. Within moments, the Tumbler was roaring back to the mansion at full speed while Dick yanked off his mask and his cape.

"Ro-Robin. I – I have to tell you – something." Ron said as he kept breathing hard.

"Save your energy, Ron." Dick said as he moved Ron's hand to see where he was hurt. He could see the entrance wound. It had hit him where the plates were separated and tore through the protective cloth. Acting quickly, he began tearing the cloth of his cape and pressed the pieces against the wound to try and slow the bleeding.

"Dick," Ron said again.

"Just hold on." Dick said. "Wade, is everything ready?"

"_Affirmative. Just get him back here."_ Wade said to him

"_I'm on my way back to."_ Batgirl said over the comm.

"Batgirl,"

"_I don't care what you're going to say, Dick. I'm heading back to the cave now! So just shut up and keep Ron alive!" _she said before turning her comm link off.

"Damn it. Hold on Ron." Dick said to him.

"Listen to him, Ron. Just hold on." A very familiar voice said to him. Ron looked away from Dick, and saw Kim was leaning over him. He could smell her, feel her in the Tumbler with him.

"KP." He whispered to her.

"Hold on for me, okay? Just hold on." She said to him as her face was filled with worry.

_(There's no time for us.)_

"Hanna – I didn't know." He tried to say to her, but he was so tired.

"It's okay, I already know." She said to him and held his face in her warm hand. He could swear she was really there.

Ron could only keep his focus on Kim as the Tumbler roared. He wasn't aware of anything else that was going on around him ash he felt Kim hold him in her arms. He just wanted to keep looking at the face of his lost love and never wanted to look away from her ever again. He didn't care if he was hallucinating or not, he just needed her there with him. He didn't even know where he was until he felt the Tumbler finally come to a stop and felt two sets of arms trying to lift him out of the vehicle.

_(There's no place for us.)_

"What happened?" Wade asked as he picked Ron up out of the Tumbler.

"The Joker's girlfriend had a gun and tried to shoot me. Ron jumped in the way." Dick said as they took him to a bed in the lab and set him on it. Wade removed his cowl while Robin hooked Ron up the heart monitor.

"His heartbeat is low." Wade said as he looked at it.

"He was hallucinating in the car. He kept saying Kim's name." Dick said.

"I wish he'd worn one of the new suits. Why he decided to wear this one, I'll never know." Wade said as he tore Ron's suit open.

_(What is this thing that builds our dreams –_

_Yet slips away from us?)_

As Wade and Dick worked over him, Ron could hear the roar of a motor bike enter the cave and screech to a halt. He was feeling so tired right now, he didn't even bother asking who it was. Moments later, he saw a young woman enter the room that was wearing a suit almost similar to his. The portions of her face that was exposed through the cowl showed that she looked very worried and upset. She reached up and yanked her cowl off to reveal the face of Hanna.

"I swear, I'm going to kill that bitch." She said to herself.

"Just help hold Ron still while I take an X-ray. I need to find that damn bullet." Wade said to them.

"Hanna." Ron said as he felt her squeeze his hand.

"I'm here, big brother." She said as a few tears started to fall down her cheeks. For the first time, he realized that her brown eyes were his eyes. How could he have missed that for so long?

"Hanna, no revenge. Please." Ron said as he fought to stay awake. "I'm proud of you. Always – always been – proud." He said to her as he squeezed her hand tighter.

"Just try and relax, bro." She said to him as he saw the fear in her face grow.

_(Who wants to live forever?_

_Who wants – to live – forever?)_

"He's lost a lot of blood. Dick, get some plasma out of storage. I've got to operate." Wade said.

"On it." Dick said as he dashed out of the lab for a minute. Ron didn't pay attention to anything around him as he kept his eyes on Hanna. He could see Yori in her now, but he could also see so much of himself in her too. IT was so strange. Would this what it would have been like if he and Kim's child had been born?

"My Hanna." He said as he felt even more exhausted as Dick came running back in and Wade injected the pain killers. It was starting to become harder for him to stay awake. "KP?" he asked out loud.

"I'm here, Ron. I'm right here." She said as she leaned in over his head and gently kissed him on his forehead. Her eyes were filled with the same worry and concern that his sister –no – his daughter had.

_(There's no chance for us._

_It's all been decided for us.)_

"I'm so sleepy. I can't stay awake." He said to her.

"Then sleep, Ron. I'll be here when you wake up." She said to him as she stroked his face.

_(This world has only one sweet moment – set aside for us.)_

"KP. Kim – I love you." He said as he started to drift to sleep.

"And I always love you. My Dark Knight." She said to him as he felt her lips press against his.

_(Who wants to live forever?_

_Who wants – to live – forever?)_

"FLAT LINE! NO PULSE!" Wade shouted.

"NO!" Hanna shouted.

"Ron, don't you dare do this! We just lost Kim, we can't loose you too!" Dick shouted as Wade started performing CPR.

_(Who dares to love forever?)_

"No change!" Wade said.

"RON, NO!" Dick screamed as everything around Ron started to fade and turn to black.

_(Oo-oh, When love must die?)_

* * *

_Who Wants to Live Forever_ written by Queen


	9. The Flip Side

**Author's Note(s):** I just wanted to let you know that this has some ver mushy stuff in it, just to give you a head's up.

* * *

DAY of DOOM

By FAH3

A nice little growl escaped her lips as she wallowed in the lush and oh so soft Kryptonian bed that made her feeling like she was sleeping on a soft cloud made out of pure silk. She didn't want to wake up, but she no longer had the desire or need to continue sleeping. As she opened her new blue eyes, she chuckled a little at what she saw. Lying next to her, with his arms wrapped around her like he was trying to protect an endangered treasure, was a sleeping Kal-El. She had to admit, the kid actually wasn't that bad for his first time in bed. Of course, that was also the hardest part. She actually enjoyed herself this time. But it was so strange this time, so different. She didn't know if it was because her body was changed and didn't need the Kryptonite, or if it was something – else. It had been several hours since the procedure had finished, and she still didn't have any signs of turning chalk white. But she was starting to feel a little hungry. But her mind wasn't focused on her empty stomach.

She looked back at the young Kryptonian, and felt a twinge of something. She didn't bother to act surprised, because she knew what it was. It was the feeling of guilt coming to kick her ass. She planned to use the kid to only make her whole again. Then once he was finished fixing her up, she was going to ditch the kid and go live her life like she wanted to. But as the time passed, with her teaching him how to use his powers, she began to feel closer to him. She began to find some of his quirks a little funny sometimes. He was also so sweet to her all the time. HE was always polite and a gentlemen. And she enjoyed whenever he blushed when she revealed any part of her body to him. And when she saw what he had done to her, to see that he actually saved her from a fate of looking like Frankenstein's girlfriend, she couldn't help herself. She just wanted him right then and there. She wanted to feel every part of him and to just be – complete. She closed her eyes tightly as she mentally gave herself a royal ass kicking. Like an idiot, she had gone and developed something for the kid.

But she couldn't do this. She never liked the idea of being anchored down with just one person. Hell, she liked being a wild child. Not to mention she loved being with a woman sometimes. But when she was with him, it just felt so different. It didn't feel wrong to her but just – more fulfilling? She couldn't explain it even if she tried right now. But she couldn't do this, she knew that. She couldn't stay with him. There was too much going on in her head right now for her to think about that. She was a free spirit and loved to come and go as she pleased. It would break his heart when she did it, but it was for the best. He'd heal and find someone else eventually.

"Someone better than me." She whispered to herself and forced herself to get up.

She made sure he didn't wake up, but she couldn't stay there. She needed some fresh air and to get her head together. She didn't even bother with a robe, she felt more comfortable being in the nude anyway. She left the sleep chambers and entered the dimly lit command center. She still didn't know a lot about how to operate this thing, but Kal had taught her enough to access TV transmissions. With adjusting a few crystals here and there, she soon saw several large crystals in front of her display several TV feeds from all over the world. She he told her how to get the ones from the U.S. only. But it was the same everywhere. Gang activity and crime were going way up in Metropolis, people were loosing hope as violence escalated all over the globe despite the Justice League's help. And Superwoman cultists were growing in Metropolis. The world was going to hell in a hand basket, and for some odd reason it was starting to gnaw at her like a teething puppy. She swiftly yanked out one of the crystals and watched the transmissions fade. She let out a deep breath as she tried to shake at what she saw. This had to be what little of Princess was still inside of her. But let's face it; she wasn't some silly damn hero. This was who she was, flesh and blood and life size.

She didn't need this right now. Maybe she just needed to recharge for a little bit, that was all. Just a little bit of sunbathing for a little while. The sun had to be up by now. Kal should be knocked out for a little bit longer, so it'd be safe for her to lay here in the nude. She moved a few more crystals around and smiled when she heard some of the crystals in the wall begin to shift. She turned to the left and saw that several of the larger crystal pillars were sinking into the ground and others were becoming as clear as glass. She had to admit, this place did have its uses. But as soon as the crystals turned clear and the sun shined through, pain was the only thing she felt as she closed her eyes tightly and began to scream.

She sank to the floor of the Fortress, screaming in agonizing pain as she covered her closed eyes with both arms. She even sunk with her head to the floor, but she could steel feel them hurting and stinging all the way into her brain. What was going on? What was wrong? Something wasn't right at all!

"Galatea?" she heard Kal calling from the sleep chamber. Her screaming must have woken him.

"KAL!" she screamed as loud as she could.

"GALATEA!" she heard Kal scream. There was a rush of wind as she felt his arms around him. It felt like he was trying to shield her, but he didn't know from what. "Galatea, what is it?" he asked her.

"CLOSE IT! PLEASE! CLOSE IT NOW!" she screamed at him.

Soon, she could hear the crystals begin to slide back into place and could see the brightness in front of her closed eyes begin to dim. Her eyes were still hurting as she felt tears pouring from them. She still didn't risk opening them, too afraid of what would happen to her again.

"Galatea, what's wrong?"

"My eyes! My eyes, they hurt!" she said to him as she felt the pain fade now that the light had faded.

"Galatea, you have to let me see." Kal said gently to her. She could tell that he was as scared as she was about this. She moved her hands away, and slowly blinked them open. There were several bright spots in front of her as she opened them. She could barley make out Kal in front of her as she tried to blink them away. Soon, the spots faded from her vision and she could see everything again.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"I don't know." She said to him. "I – I opened the window to let some sun in. But as soon as the light hit me, my eyes started burning." She said to him. "My God, Kal. It was like I'd gone blind." She said to him. "What's wrong with me?"

* * *

"_RED ALERT! RED ALERT! WE HAVE A BREACH IN LAB 7-14! REPEAT! BREACH IN LAB 7-14!"_ the automated system screamed as red lights blanketed the entire base and sirens sounded throughout the lab.

"What the hell is this? London during the Blitz?!" Gabby shouted as he stepped out of his quarters in time to see Guardian and several security personnel fly past him at break neck speed.

"MOVE IT, PEOPLE! MOVE! I WANT CADMUS ON COMPLETE LOCKDOWN!" Harper shouted as he and his men rushed down to sub-level seven through the emergency stairwells and lifts. Whenever there was a breach in Cadmus, it was never good. Not with all the biological mess and DNAliens they had roaming around this place. There was always a very strong chance that they could be creating the very next Frankenstein monster, or something like the monster that had killed Superwoman. So if there was any accident in any lab to cause a red alert, then they brought out all the heavy hardware. Even if it was a clone of a grass snake. In several seconds, Harper and his whole security force were in front of the large lab doors as the alarm blared.

"Sergeant, cut the damn siren off! Gunny! What's the word on that door?!" Harper demanded.

"Door's dead, sir! There's no power flowing to it at all! Something's snapped the power line's inside the lab!" the soldier reported.

"Any way we can open it from here?"

"Negative, sir!"

"Then let's bring in skeleton key." Harper said and signaled two soldiers in the back. They immediately stepped forward with a bazooka that looked like it had just stepped out of one of the Terminator movies. "I want this thing blown wide open." Harper said.

"LIKE HELL, GUARDIAN!" Westfield shouted as he joined the fray. His hair was a mess and hadn't been washed for days. He was in his slacks and shoes, with his shirt buttoned halfway and his sleeves rolled up to mid forearm. Hi neck was so loose that it looked like it was about to fly off his head any second.

"What the fu – SOLDIER, GET THAT WINDBAG OUT OF HERE!" Harper shouted.

"You'll have to shoot me first, Harper. That's very sensitive material in the lab, and I'm not going to let you destroy it!" he said to him.

"Don't tempt me you piss ant." Harper said to him. "ETA on the door?"

One minute before skeleton key is ready, sir!" the soldier said.

"STAND DOWN!" Westfield shouted.

"Belay that!" Harper barked immediately. "If I recall, you're no longer in charge Westfield. Get out of here, now!" Harper growled at his former superior.

"I told you, you'll have to shoot me first." Westfield growled in response as his face became red.

"Fine with me. FIRE!" Harper shouted.

The rocket fired from the large weapon as soon as the order was given. The loud blast that followed afterward drowned out Westfield's shouting and colorful metaphors as smoke flooded the lab and the hallway. As soon as they could see part of the lab, the full team rushed in with their guns raised and their safeties off. All of them were scanning the lab, looking for any sign of danger or a threat. So far, all they saw were several moaning scientists on the floor and several pieces of shattered glass. There was also some kind of strange blue-green liquid all over the floor.

"CLEAR!" the lead soldier shouted as more of the smoke cleared.

As Guardian stepped into the lab, with the exhaust fans clearing away the smoke, Westfield rushed past the rest of them as he examined the area. The first thing that caught his eye, and Harper's, was the large broken specimen tube that still had some of the blue-green liquid left in it and sensors draped over its side.

"No." Westfield said as he fell to his knees, soaking his slacks and cutting his knees on the broken glass. "No. No, no, no, no, NO! She wasn't ready yet!" Westfield screamed as Harper took a closer look at the tube. What caught Harpers eye was the torn red cloth that had caught on part of a jagged edge. Guardian removed the cloth and looked at it carefully. What he saw made his jaw clench, his muscles tense, and his anger screaming to new heights.

"Westfield, what the hell did you do down here?" he growled as he raised the piece of cloth. It had a large, yellow, pentagonal S shield on it. "Please tell me you didn't."

"He did." One of the scientists said as they tried to stand. We fed – all the normal data. But – it resisted."

"What did it resist?" Harper asked him.

"The protocols Westfield wanted to put into place. She wouldn't accept them. She refused to. She's not even fully matured yet. When we kept trying to place the protocols, she broke free. Don't you understand?" the scientist asked as he took several steps forward. "We have no control over her. She will not obey anything we say. She's on her own."

"Westfield, what did you clone?" Harper asked him again, but he already knew.

"Project Phoenix is a failure. We can't control her. We were trying to give the world Superwoman back. That's all we were trying to do." He said kept saying to himself.

* * *

What was that sweet smell? Every time he took a deep breath, he could smell this enchanting scent. He just couldn't figure out what it was, though. He didn't care. He was actually comfortable and he felt at ease. He felt warm, like he was wrapped in an old comfortable blanket, as he also felt the cool touch of a gentle breeze passing over him. A happy and content escaped his mouth as he felt a delicate set of finger start to gently brush through his hair. It was a touch he recognized and enjoyed. He could lay like this for hours.

"Time to wake up, sleepy head." The owner of the fingers said in a sweet voice. Not even a choir of angels could sound as beautiful as that one voice.

"I don't want to." He said as felt his satisfied smile grow wider.

"Please?" the voice asked, like she was teasing him.

Ron slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with a pair of emerald eyes that were filled with a limitless amount of love for him, and he knew he loved this woman more than anything in the world.

"Hey, Kim." He said with a warm smile.

"Morning, Ron." She said as she leaned over and kissed him gently on his lips. It didn't take him long to figure out that he was laying on the ground with his head resting in her lap. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Good. Surprisingly good." He said as he stretched. "I had the worst nightmare, though. It was horrible."

"Really?" she asked him.

"Yeah. You were dead, and everything around me was – just falling apart. It was so weird though." He said and noticed how her face started to look a little sad. "KP, what's wrong?" he asked her.

"Ron, where are we?" she asked him.

Ron finally sat up and took a good look at his surroundings. What he saw surprised and confused him. They were in the middle of a clearing that was surrounded by tall trees of various kinds, with their branches stretching upward to the sky. They were laying underneath an old oak tree that was in the center of the clearing with it's old and long branches spreading outward and giving them a large shade with its canopy of green leaves. Under them was a large patch of soft, healthy green moss that made the ground as soft as a bed.

"This is – this our spot. When we stopped Dementor that time and we had to jump out of that air ship of his. We landed here." Ron said to her.

"Yes, it is. And every time you wanted to be romantic, we came here." She said with a smile as she looked at the woods surrounding them. "I wonder if this place is still here."

"Of course it's here. I bought this place to prevent the loggers from tearing it down. But – but we haven't been here in years. And it looks just like it did last time we were here. When we defeated Zod." Ron said slowly as his brain started to work. The grass was freshly cut, but he hadn't tended to this place for a while. The grass should be overgrown. Probably stretching over their heads by now. Something was off. "Kim?" he asked her, and finally got a good look at her.

She was wearing her green tank top and her blue jeans again. But she didn't look like the way they had when they were in high school. She was older, more mature. She looked exactly as she had right before – before –

"Please tell me it was a nightmare." He said to her.

"What's the last thing you remember, Ron?" she asked him.

Ron tried to remember, but it was a little hazy. HE had to concentrate in order to recall what had happened not too long ago. His memories were starting to become clearer, but it was still hard for him to get a clear image in his head. Then they returned to him in a flash. All of them were now in perfect clarity.

"The Joker and Dr. Quinzel. They took the police station hostage." He said as he began to recall. "Quinzel had a gun – and she was aiming it at Dick. But I," Ron said but stopped.

He had flung himself in the path of the bullet. He remembered when it hit him and the unbearable burning of the hot lead as it burrowed into him. He didn't know how he was able to fight through it. Then he was in the cave – and he kept getting so sleepy. When he looked down at himself, he saw that he was wearing his old cargo pants, and a black sweater underneath his old jersey. The one he had given to Kim when she moved away to create her fortress. Where was he?

"KP, are you real? Am I dreaming again?" he asked her cautiously, almost too afraid to want to know the answer.

"I am real, Ron." She said as she stood, and walked to him. She took his hand in both of hers and kissed the top it. "It's really me." She said to him.

"Then I'm – I," Ron said, but he couldn't finish it. His throat felt too dry, and his voice seemed to freeze. "Are we in heaven?" he asked her.

"I don't know. The last thing I remembered was that I was fighting Doomsday, and I was so angry at that thing for everything he did. And what he did to our," she said, but stopped and bit her lip as she closed her eyes to fight back the tears. "I remember – flying him into space and crashing him back down to Earth. Then I was in your arms and – I passed out. When I woke up, I was here." She said to him as she started to weep.

Not caring where they were anymore, Ron closed the distance between them and held her in his arms as tightly as he could. He could feel her, feel the warmth of her body heat as he felt the beating of her heart and her breath on his neck. She was here, right now. She was real and not an illusion.

"KP, I've missed you so much." Ron said to her.

"I've missed you to, Ron." She said.

"I thought I was going to go crazy. Every time I was alone, I kept seeing you. I kept dreaming you were there with me." He said to her before looking at her again. "Was that really was you, or was I just dreaming?" he asked her.

"I can't explain it. But I kept trying to find someone, anyone I could talk to. But when I thought about you long enough, I could see you. I was with you no matter where you were. When I concentrated hard enough, you could hear me." She said to him.

"It must have been my Mystical Monkey Power." Ron said to himself before Kim grasped him by the face and made him look at her.

"Or it's our bond. When you got shot, I could feel it. It was like something was tearing through me. I was so scared when I saw you bleeding." She said to him.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm here now, with you. We're together again." He said and grasped her lips in a passionate embrace. He was giving every emotion, every feeling he could give into the kiss. He needed her to know how much he loved her, how much he needed for her in order for him to survive. He could feel her returning the passion with every fiber in her body. Her hands were gripping his hair as she held onto him tightly, not ever wanting to let him ago again. When their embrace ended, she ket kissing his lips with smaller pecks before she pressed her head into his chest. And shaking breath escaped her mouth as she held him close. She needed him as much as she needed her. That's why it hurt for her to say what she needed.

"We can't stay together." She said to him.

"What?" he asked in shock.

"Ron, you're not supposed to be here. Not now." She said to him as she looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"What do you mean? I'm dead, I'm here."

"But not for long, I can feel it. It's like a ripple in the air that's telling me you're early. It's not your time yet." She said as she started to sob.

"No. NO! I don't want to leave. I can't loose you again!" he said as his own tears began to make themselves known.

"I don't want you to go, Ron. I want to be with you forever, but not now." She said as he closed her eyes as her tears began to fall.

"I won't go back." He said firmly.

"You _have_ to. The world needs you, Ron. Hanna needs you." She told him, pleaded with him.

"The world also needs you." A deep voice said, echoing around them.

The sudden voice startled both of them, making them search the field for any sign of someone else. But it was only them. There was no one else with them that they could see.

"Who said that?" Ron asked.

"We did." Another voice echoed, but this one was very familiar to both of them.

A white light appeared beside them, opening like a doorway. Blinding white light spilled through the entrance, blinding both of them. From the light, two shadow figures began to approach them. One was tall and broad, and he seemed to be wearing some sort of cape. The other was tall and lanky. Even though it was only a silhouette, they somehow knew the shape of the second figure. Soon, both emerged from the tunnel and onto the wide field where the two lovers stood. The tunnel behind them sealed closed, and allowed the light of the unseen sunlight their features. Shock and bewilderment were on both Ron and Kim's faces as they recognized who was standing before them.

The tall man had jet-black hair that was combed backwards and a set of emerald green eyes that were almost exactly like Kim's. He wore a navy blue bodysuit with an emerald cape resting on his shoulders. On his chest was an emerald pentagonal S shield. And the other man was tall and thin, with brown hair that was graying at the temples. And both had a warm smile on their faces as they looked at the couple in front of them.

"Mr. Dr. P?" Ron asked slowly.

"Jor-El?" Kim asked, completely stunned.

"Hi Kimmey-cub." James said as his smile grew larger.

Faster than any could follow, Kim was in James' arms and hugging him as tightly as she could. Jor-El couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him before his eyes fell upon Ronald's frozen form.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Ronald." Jor-El said to him.

"It-it's nice to meet you, sir."

"I owe you a great deal, young man." He said to Ron.

"For what?"

"For keeping a watchful eye on my daughter. And most importantly, for making Kara happy. Her bond with you is as strong as the bond I have for her mother." He said to Ron with pride.

"But what are you doing here?" Kim asked her fathers as she broke her hug with James, looking at both of them.

"We came here to help you back." James said.

"Back?"

"As you told Ronald, it is not your time to pass on as well, Kara." Jor-El said to her.

"But she died in my arms. I saw it, the whole world saw it." Ron said to them.

"Not really, Ron. Kimmie isn't dead. At least, not yet."

"But – we're here. We're all here. This is heaven, isn't it?" Kim asked them.

"I'm afraid not, Kara. This place exists in between worlds." Jor-El said.

"But Kim – She was hurt so badly." Ron said.

"Her body is different from the rest of us." James said.

"Because her body has absorbed so much solar energy, it has been able to slow its normal functions in order to heal itself. But if she is not brought out of her tomb in time, she will pass on." Jor-El warned.

"And it has to be soon, Ron. There's not much time left." James warned.

"Why? Is there something wrong with my body?" Kim asked them.

"No, Kara. A great danger is coming to the Earth. And in order to stop it, the Earth needs your help. If you do not return, the human race may very well suffer the same fate as ours." Jor-El said to them.

"What about after? Will I still be alive if we stop it?" Kim asked them.

"You have a full life ahead of you, Kimmie-cub. You and Ronald both, together. It's a long and wonderful life that deserves to be lived." James said to them with a warm smile.

Kim couldn't help but bite her lip for a moment as Ron stepped beside her and wrapped his arm around her. Both were thinking the same thing as they stood there in limbo.

"How bad is this threat?" Ron asked.

"I'm afraid it's greater then what you faced with the creature you called Doomsday." Jor-El said.

Those words chilled both of them to the bone. What they had faced with that monstrosity had caused an almost never ending nightmare for both of them and had left so many scars for so many. To hear that something worse was waiting back for them in their lives made them tempted to stay. But they had been saving lives for years now. They didn't do it for fame, glory, or wealth. They did it because it was the right thing to do, because it was who they were. And they couldn't stand aside now and let something happen to not just their home of their friends, but to their whole world. They knew what they had to do, but it didn't make it any less scary for them.

"Will we ever see you again?" Kim asked them.

"Of course you will. We'll be here waiting for you." James said to her.

"All of us. Including someone who wanted to meet you." Jor-El said and glanced behind James.

They hadn't noticed earlier, but there was someone that had been hiding behind James ever since they arrived. Ron or Kim couldn't see who it was because they remained perfectly still. As they saw other visitor move to look at them, a small gasp escaped Kim's throat as she covered her mouth with her hands in shock. It was a little girl, no older than five or six years old. She had long bright red hair that was tied in a ponytail, and big brown eyes they were nervous as she played with the edge of her light blue dress. Ron's mouth tried to say something, but he couldn't say anything. They both knew who it was, but they still couldn't believe it.

"I-is that?" Ron finally choked out.

"Hi Mommy. Hi Daddy." She said in a soft, sweet voice.

Kim covered her mouth in shock while Ron inhaled a sharp cold breath. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, but she was right there in front of them. She looked so much like Kim, and those large chocolate eyes of hers were indeed Ron's. She was their little girl.

"Mommy, are you crying?" she asked as she saw the tears were falling down Kim's cheeks.

"No, baby. I – I'm just – happy to see you." Kim said as she looked at the child.

_(But touh my tears - with your lips.)_

There was no hesitation or reason to second guess herself as she knelt down. The child ran into her open arms with a wide smile as Kim swept her up so Ron could see her. Both hugged the child tightly, not wanting to let her go. As they held the child that would have been, the need to go back to the living became even harder to do. Neither of them wanted to leave the child behind and force her to wait for their return.

"She'll be here with us, Ron. You don't have to worry." James said to him, sensing what both Ron and Kim were thinking about. Reluctantly, Kim slowly set the girl back on the ground as the child kept looking up at both of them with a smile.

"Be a good girl for your grandparents. Okay?" he asked her.

"I will, Daddy." She said to him.

"We'll all be waiting for you, Kara. And we will always be watching." Jor-El said as he stepped forward and hugged Kimberly tightly. "The last time I did this, you were only an infant." He whispered.

"No offence, but here's hoping you won't have to do it for a long time." Kim said as they separated.

"I hope so to, my Kara Jor-El." He said to her and stroked her face like he used to do when she was so much smaller.

"I love you, dad." Kim said and hugged James one last time.

"I love you too, Kimmie-cub. Take care of her, Ronald." James said in a serious tone.

"I will, Mr. Dr. P. Even if I have to die again to do it." He said to him.

"Over my dead body." Kim said with a small laugh as she walked next to Ron. "How do we get back?" she asked them.

"The only way back is through there." Jor-El said and pointed behind them.

_(Touch my world - with your fingertips.)_

As Kim and Ron turned, fear flooded through their entire bodies at what they saw in front of them. It was an enormous, swirling black vortex. As if someone had painted black circle and the paint was still wet and moving. Inside the cortex, very, very distant, was a small white dot that looked to be the end of it. It was like looking into the unknown itself.

"Is that the only way back?" Ron asked.

"I'm afraid so, Ron." James said to him.

"Ron, I'm scared." Kim said as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"It's all right, KP. I've got your back." Ron said as he took her hand in his and held it firmly.

_(And we - can have - forever.)_

"Do you still have that chunk of Kryptonite I gave you?" she asked him as she tried to control her fear that felt like ice forming through her veins.

"Yeah, why?" Ron asked her.

"You're probably going to need it. Since I'm going to snap Yori's neck like a twig." She said and closed her eyes.

_(And we - can love - forever.)_

"Good luck, Kara. Remember, we will always be watching." Jor-El said to her.

Both of them closed their eyes and took a deep breath. As they held each other's hands firmly, they felt their bond and their courage grow. They knew that as long as they had each other, nothing would be impossible for them. They were a team; they were the World's Finest. And they had a job to do. As they opened their eyes again, they saw that their clothes had changed. Kim was wearing her Superwoman uniform again while Ron was wearing his original armored survival suit, cape, and cowl.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"I'm always ready." She said with a confident smile.

Holding their hands tighter than ever before, both ran toward the vortex at the same time and leapt through it. Instantly, they felt like they were going through the vortex with the same speed and force the space shuttle used to break free of the Earth's gravity. And they lept their hands locked and their eyes set on the distant opening, it felt like their speed was getting faster and faster. The G-force alone felt like it would tear any normal human apart at the seams. But they weren't giving up; not now, and not ever. Soon, Ron could feel a strange sensation in his chest. It was like someone was pressing down on it hard as he felt air being forced into it. Kim could feel herself taking breaths again as she started to shiver.

_(Who wants to live forever?)_

"Ron?!" she called out to him.

"I can feel it too, Kim. Something pulling me." He said.

"I can feel it too." She said before they realized what was pulling them was also forcing them to loose their grip on each other. Panic was starting to set in her face before Ron looked at her again.

_(Who wants - to live - forever?)_

"Don't worry, Kim! I'll find you!" he called out to her.

"I know!" she shouted back.

_(Forever is our today.)_

With on more tug, their hands slipped away from each other as a great distance began to form between them. When they both looked ahead, the vortex's exit was in front of them and bearing down on them before everything went white.

_(Who waits forever anyway?)_

* * *

Ron raised up and arched his back as he took in a large breath of fresh air before he fell back onto the table again. He was taking deep breaths, like he had been holding his breath for hours; trying to refill his lungs with oxygen. Around him, a very worried Dick, Hanna, and Wade were over him as Wade kept his eyes on the monitor readings.

"He's got a steady heartbeat. Normal rhythm." Wade said in relief. "The bullet's out and the damage is patched, Ron. You're going to be okay."

"Don't you EVER do that to me again, bro. Do you hear me?!" Hanna said as she held his hand and cried.

"D-Dick." Ron gasped as he searched for his foster son.

"I'm here, old man." Dick said with relief as Ron saw him step into his line of sight.

"Dick." Ron gasped. "I-I saw her." He said.

"Who?" Dick asked, confused at what Ron was saying.

"Kim. I saw Kim." Ron gasped.

"Kim?" Hanna asked.

"He must have been dreaming." Wade said.

"Ron, Kim's dead." Dick told him.

"No." he said. "I saw her. I – I talked to her. She was there." Ron gasped.

"Ron, it's okay. You're alive." Dick tried to reassure him.

Dick was shocked when Ron grabbed him by the front of his uniform and yanked him down so that they were face to face. Dick would have figure Ron would have been tired from having so much pain killers in his system and being out of it for so long.

"No, Dick. You don't understand." Ron said to him.

"Ron, what is it?" he asked him.

"Dick, I brought her back."

**THE END**

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* * *

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_Who Wants to Live Forever? - by Queen_

I hope everyone enjoyed this story, and make sure you leave your comments whether they're good or bad. I hope you enjoyed this ride. Dedicated to the memory of Commander Argus.


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